Burning in the Sea
by KuriQuinn
Summary: When you live in small town, where everything and everyone is the same, what are you supposed to do? Why, wreak whatever hell you can, of course. A sequel to DITC.
1. Lotus Box

_**Burning in the Sea**_

Author: KuriQuinn

Title: Burning in the Sea

Fandom: Bakuten Shoot Beyblade

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade, never will and have no intention of leading a crusade to try to own them. That's too much money and too much effort. However, I do like to manipulate the characters to do my bidding because it amuses me and countless others. This is the only disclaimer you will see in this fic, so if you decide to review me saying that I didn't give credit to the real person that came up with Beyblade (Aoki Takao) I will calmly tell you to go screw yourself. That is all

Fanfiction Disclaimer: Chaya is my own creation, as is Haley, Jennifer, Claire and anyone else that you don't recognize. Miyami Kinomiya belongs to Mags, my best friend. Aurelia Delk belongs to Band-Freak aka Lobo-Chan. And that is all for now...Flash Jameson belongs to Flash, Iris Messana belongs to Iz

Rating: R for language, mature themes and mature humour

Pairing: Figure it out.

Takes-Place: Alternate Universe

Summary: When you live in small town, where everything and everyone is the same, what are you supposed to do? Why, wreak whatever hell you can, of course

Thanks to: _Thank You To: Laulella, SkyBlueSunShine, evilive, Lobo-Chan, mezurashii, Hiwitari-gurl, Iz, Lucky gurl, Adar, Milkshake-Minx, FearlessDranzer, Trunks' Brat Baby. Ghetto fabulous, nObOdY, justafan, Feirdra, Alexandra Lily Riddle, lilix, Silver-Wood-GG, Kay, xxphatxbaybeexx, Flash, Icy, anime-obsessed:P, Disturb-me-not, lycanthropeluvr, Angelinwaiting1, myrtle-moon, peachgirl1608, Queen Phoenix and Hippie Killer,), CrAzY 101, sigourney, grEMlin, Bubbles, pishcules, KEEPON, lil baby phoenix, Dranzen, Ghetto Gamer, CrimsonShadows(Pyro Inu, Ayuka-chan, ariotlatio, Suheil373, twinsisters of heaven and hell, Angel of the Living Dead, A-Water-Fairy-From-Winx-Club, Rational Lunacy, Midnight Insanity, Drago-Kai, dragon-slayer69, Alexis: Digital Survivor, puppy444219, Apakoha, Carmen, Crystal-lightening41, Spazzy's Girl, Kyo Yumi, Ghetto, Tae Yeon Im, Musei Kai, Levin, EKeBEDemon, PaleBlue, utopiangem, Raizard333, Kaigal, Miss Clamentine, don'tmesswithbec, Crying Sorceress and anybody else that I missed or who has read this fic. _

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****Chapter One: Lotus Box**

The sun shone down through the open window of the apartment complex above the local hobby shop, landing its prodding rays on the closed eyes of a teenaged girl lying asleep on the bottom half of a bunk-bed. Despite the evidence of their being two people that lived in this room, she was the only figure that currently resided there except for the sleeping hairless cat that was curled up on an old looking school bag that seemed to have seen better days than on the floor. The digital clock across from her, nearly hidden by the dirty sweater and socks that had been tossed over it, exchanged its digital number four for a five, suddenly reading 7:45.

A shrill beeping cried out, sounding very much like a duck being tortured, and the teenager moaned, rolling over, her sleep broken by the rude alarm clock.

Fifteen-year-old Chaya Mizuhara tried to disentangle herself from her bed sheets, which had somehow wound themselves around her legs like ropes and turned onto her side slowly, blinking sleep out of her eyes. Yawning, she squinted over at the clock, trying to make out the time. Its luminous numbers slowly came into focus and she blinked again, just to make sure that she was seeing properly.

'Seven-forty-five…I should be somewhere…'

Her brain didn't seem to be functioning that morning and something was telling Chaya that it should be. Running a hand through her long, messy blond hair she frowned, trying to remember…something was happening today…she was supposed to be…meeting Miyami at –

"Oh shit, not again!"

– school.

With that crude cry, she shot upwards instantly, hitting her head on the bunk above hers and falling back down painfully onto the pillow.

Something was telling her that today was not going to be the best of days…

Rolling off of the bed to avoid further damage because of the stupid, low-lying bed she glared upwards, expecting to find the still sleeping body of her twin brother, but more incensed than anything to discover the bed empty and neatly made instead.

The clock's digits changed again, reminding Chaya that she didn't have time to think of ways to murder her brother in her head for leaving her, yet again, to her own devices on the first day of school. Moving at a pace that might be likened to that of an Olympic sprinter, the teenaged girl hopped around the room, somehow managing to find some clothing that didn't look too shabby and turning herself from the incoherent blob of teenager into the likeness of a young girl.

Stumbling through the room that looked as though it hadn't been prepared for a hurricane-warning, she grabbed her ratty old school-bag, dislodging the hissing cat which ran to hide under the bed, and engaged in the suddenly-become-traditional activity of shoving school supplies into the bag.

Deciding to risk it, she ran to the bathroom and dunked her head under the shower nozzle, swearing at the cold water that suddenly flowed down over her head, wetting her hair all the way through and ridding it of its tangled state. Grabbing the nearest towel she furiously began to dry her hair as best she could, before raking a comb through it and brushing her teeth at the same time.

She managed to get down the stairs fast enough, before realizing that she'd left her bag upstairs and had to ran back up to get it. Her swearing increasing frantically, Chaya swung the bag over her shoulder, wincing at the damp feeling over her wet hair being squished between the bag and her shoulders. Unfortunately, she didn't have time to dry it that morning…

Running past the kitchen without bothering with breakfast or grabbing her lunch, she practically jumped into a pair of her combat boots and without pausing to do them up, reached for the doorknob of the porch-way. She noticed absently that once again she was wearing two different colored socks…

She heard her father come out of the kitchen, sipping a cup of coffee. "Chaya, do you want –"

"Can'ttalknowdadigottagotoschoolbeforeclarksonhasmyass!" the blond girl cried as she hopped down the stairs of the apartment, landing in a crouched position on the pavement and then taking off as fast as she could.

"– me to drive you?" her father finished as she disappeared, his hands already on the keys to the family car. "Or not…"

In a matter of seconds she was outside the house area, running full speed down the length of North Mueller Avenue where various passersby sent her strange glances. She didn't pay attention to them, too intent on getting to school. She had less than ten minutes to get in before class started – she'd already missed homeroom, she knew.

Growling to herself the obscenities of wanting to murder her twin, she hopped over garbage bags and cans and the odd cat on her running rampage, focused on getting to the redbrick building that drove her nuts. 'Why the hell does he always do this on the first day of school!'

She skidded around a corner, nearly colliding with a bush in her mad dash to get to school on time. Her thoughts briefly wandered to what would happen when she got there. She was starting the tenth grade this year, something she was proud of but also annoyed with considering it meant that she had another two grade to endure in the torturous hallways of Bethany High.

Not that everything was bad about Bethany High, Chaya reminded herself, considering she had managed to find this out for herself the school year before. She had believed that living in a small town would be the most boring part of her existence – but had been shown different when she actually met the people that lived there.

Not much had changed about Chaya or her friends during the two months of freedom generally known as summer vacation. She had spent most of her time hanging out with her best friend Miyami Granger and her boyfriend Ray Kon on the beach at Lake Hefner. There had also been that disastrous family trip to Oregon to visit her sister which she never wanted to think about again – but other than that, things were pretty much the same. Some minimal changes in her person were that she had grown an inch or two and her hair was longer – which she could feel extremely well at the moment as its dampness sifted through her shirt.

This brought about yet another wave of anger at her brother, not just for making her late so that she had been forced to forgo the drying of her hair, but for putting her 'Shit Happens' shirt in the laundry the night before so she had been forced to find something else to wear. The white summer-dress and jean-jacket had not been her first choice, bit it had been the only clean thing in her room that wasn't too wrinkled or ugly to wear to school.

Besides, Max had said that it made her look somewhat stylish – she hadn't known whether to smack him or not at the time. Sometimes having a gay brother was a pleasant adventure and a bonus, considering he actually listened to her problems instead of dismissing them as 'feminine habits' and gave her his opinion on what she wore – even when she didn't ask for it. Not to mention it was usually Max that got fed up enough with the state of their room to clean it up. But other times, she was reminded that despite his sexual orientation, he was still her brother and still an annoying sack of evilness that was out to get her – just as he was this morning by not waking her up.

Chaya had been ready to have a fresh start to the new year, ready to face the challenges not only of the tenth grade but the challenges of high school life – which were always around when there were people like Rosann Clarkson, vice principal of Bethany High, around to make them. She had thought that she could begin the year with a clean slate and not have to deal with the annoying, Doberman-look-alike woman, but it seemed that the convenience of not waking her up had seemed to be a 'fresh start' to Max.

'Two more blocks,' she thought as she panted, her feet hitting against the pavement so hard that her soles were beginning to ache. 'Two more blocks and I'll be safe and I won't get into trouble and – '

The world suddenly seemed to fall, a twisting feeling of her loose boots which she probably should have tied up but didn't making her knees buckle and she was staring at the pavement as she began to fall downwards. The split-second foresight of her skinned knees flashed in Chaya's mind as she lost the fight with gravity. All she had to do was wait for the impact and blistering pain…

But there was nothing.

Chaya blinked, frowning in confusion. She hadn't fallen. Her knees were suspended inches above the pavement and now that she thought about it, there was a pulling sensation on her arms and shoulders, someone's hands holding her up. Confused but grateful at the stranger having kept her safe from skinning her knees, she looked up to thank them –

– And her mouth went dry.

Angry crimson-brown eyes glared down at her in exactly the way she remembered, making her freeze up for a moment before she remembered that she wasn't supposed to be afraid of his cold glares.

Kai Hiwatari still managed to look as though life was no effort to him at all. Although he was holding onto her to keep her from falling he still managed to carelessly hand onto his school-bag and jacket at the same time. He had gotten taller yet again, reminding Chaya that she was never going to catch up to him, and his hair seemed darker. The now senior student of Bethany High still wore the traces of his self-satisfied smirk on his face that she always had to urge to physically smack off of him. She'd done it once, but the consequences had been dire.

"First day on your new feet, Mizuhara?"

She hadn't heard that jeering voice in two months, and for some reason it made her heart leap into her throat. The urge to hit him returned again full throttle.

"First day with your new brain, Hiwatari?" Recovering herself with as much dignity as she could stand, she pushed away from him and pretended to brush herself off, glaring at him all the way. He merely raised his eyebrows at her as though he found her amusing.

She half-expected him to reply with an angry or witty retort, but he merely shrugged at her and pushed past her, walking in the opposite direction. For a moment she stared in confusion, not understanding the sudden lack in hateful rapport between the two. Immediately, her thoughts returned to that day two months ago that might be the reason for his attitude, but fought it down, reminding herself that she had sworn never to think about it again.

However, her curiosity didn't stop her from yelling after him, "You're going to wrong way, moron!"

He stopped walking, but strangely, didn't look back. She could barely make out his voice above the din of the busy street but wasn't impressed with his response. "What makes you think I'm going to school?"

And with that he continued, leaving Chaya standing in the middle of the sidewalk on her way to school, gaping at him. The change in Hiwatari was obvious to her immediately, although what had brought it on was still a mystery.

She glanced at her watch, swearing when she realized that she had just wasted five minutes of very precious time. She was late enough as it is, she didn't need to begin philosophizing about what made that arrogant senior what he was.

As she ran, thoughts about the crimson-eyed senior insisted on clouding her thoughts and she tried to push them away. She didn't care what the hell was wrong with him – he probably deserved it. After everything he had put her through the year before, always getting her into trouble (even though the odd time it had been her own fault) and then after having pulled that…stunt on her last June. Her cheeks still burned in embarrassment at the memory…

The redbrick, two-story high building loomed ahead of her, still hidden behind the tattered flag-pole that held an overly large American flag. As she remembered, the ground floor was mostly freshman and sophomore classrooms, faculty offices and the advanced math class. The upper floor was dedicated to the juniors and senior.

The entrance way was occupied only by the lone figure of an older man in a grey uniform that Chaya recognized as the janitor that she and Miyami had struck up an acquaintanceship the year before. He seemed to be about to close the door, when he noticed her running his way and paused, holding it open for her.

She vaulted up the stairway.

It was so…close…she wasn't going to…be late…

"Late again, Mizuhara?"

"Shut up Jackson!" she yelled at him, ignoring the chuckle as she tore her way down the hallways, past the school offices and praying that that day she wouldn't be caught trying to sneak in on time by Clarkson. That was just what she needed today…

No luck there…

A rather large and grotesque looking woman was just walking out of her office, her newly solidified brown hair bobbing as she readied to drink her morning coffee. She noticed Chaya running right by her and reached out to grab her, but the teen maneuvered around her easily, continuing on her way.

"Chaya-Amelia Mizuhara, no running in the hallways!" she yelled after her, her annoying voice echoing off of the empty walls of the hallways. There was no artwork up yet. "And _those are not regulation shoes_!"

"Sue me!" Chaya called back, her voice frustrated. "I know when detention is, lecture me then!"

The floors split off in four different directions, two of which she remembered led towards the staircases. Jogging in the direction that she remembered the class-lists to be hung up in, she got to the end, noticing that one of the teachers was just taking them down, she cried out in alarm, skidding forward, yanking the papers from the stunned woman's hands and ran off in the opposite direction.

'Come on, come on, come on…!' she murmured in her head, like a mantra almost, inspecting the lists and room-numbers. 'One-oh-five, one-oh-six – where the hell is one-thirteen!'

It seemed this year she would be lucky, she thought as she recognized her name on one of the lists, indicating that the room she had to find was in the wing where she was currently looking around.

The floors were waxy, as they always seemed to be directly after the holidays, and the room 113 loomed far ahead of her. Much to her chagrin, the arm of the teacher was just beginning to close the door

…As in slow motion, the space between door and wall got smaller and Chaya put out as much energy as she could to get to the door on time. She refused to be late – wouldn't allow herself to be!

She was almost there! Nearly not late! Five steps…four steps…three steps…two –

BAM!

THUMP!

RING!

In less than a minute, the students within had all gathered around the door and its frame to look down on the fallen girl. Chaya looked blearily up at the faces around her and let a hand fall upon her now bruised forehead which felt as though someone had smacked her with a frying pan.

"For the record, I wasn't late," she mumbled through the pulsing pain in her head. "You closed the door and caused me to be late…I was almost on time…"

"Yes, yes, I know very well that it's not your fault, Chaya," a voice said in a sarcastic manner. "It never is."

She blinked.

That voice…

"Wait a second," the teen said suspiciously, trying to see who the teacher was that was standing over her. "I know that voice…there is no voice more annoying than – IT'S YOU!"

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AND, THERE WE GO, I LEAVE YOU WITH ANOTHER CLIFFHANGER..AREN'T I NICE? KIDDING! WHO IS THIS STRANGER THAT CHAYA KNOWS? WILL MAX EVER STOP LEAVING HER TO HER OWN DEVICES? WHAT WAS IT THAT CHAYA DID TO CLARKSON'S OFFICE LAST YEAR? FIND OUT IN THE NEXT CHAPTER! I'LL HOPEFULLY HAVE IT UP SOON. 

READ AND REVIEW PLEASE!

KURINESS

_Note: This chapter was done to the music 'Stuck in America' by Sugar cult. I suggest listening to it as you read the chapter, it helps with visualization and makes things funnier…_


	2. Frontier Rock

**_Burning in the Sea_**

Author: KuriQuinn

Title: Burning in the Sea

Fandom: Bakuten Shoot Beyblade

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade, never will and have no intention of leading a crusade to try to own them. That's too much money and too much effort. However, I do like to manipulate the characters to do my bidding because it amuses me and countless others. This is the only disclaimer you will see in this fic, so if you decide to review me saying that I didn't give credit to the real person that came up with Beyblade (Aoki Takao) I will calmly tell you to go screw yourself. That is all

Fanfiction Disclaimer: Chaya is my own creation, as is Haley, Jennifer, Claire and anyone else that you don't recognize. Miyami Kinomiya belongs to Mags, my best friend. Aurelia Delk belongs to Band-Freak aka Lobo-Chan. And that is all for now...Flash Jameson belongs to Flash, Iris Messana belongs to Iz

Rating: R for language, mature themes and mature humour

Pairing: Figure it out.

Takes-Place: Alternate Universe

Summary: When you live in small town, where everything and everyone is the same, what are you supposed to do? Why, wreak whatever hell you can, of course

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Chapter Two: Frontier Rock **

Her vision swirled in front of her, first a dark slab of nothing before colors began to intermingle with it and slowly took shape. Her head seemed to be spinning and there was a concentrated prickle of pain somewhere on the front of her head, which was being pressed about something cold.

When the world stopped swirling and she finally found herself fully conscious, she blinked up at the concerned frown of the school nurse, Mrs. Nielson, who was holding an ice pack to her head. She had obviously been brought to the nurses station and was insanely grateful to whoever had brought her there.

Images of what had led her to this interesting turn of events were a jumble in her head. Moaning when the bruise throbbed and slowly sitting up on the hard cot of the office, she mumbled, "I had the worst dream…"

"And you're bound to have more with that lump on your head," the middle-aged woman said crossly. "Honestly, Chaya, you're always getting into some kind of trouble – and it's only the first day! I hope you're not planning to have a repeat of last November…"

"No thanks, lady," Chaya mumbled, glancing around and taking note of her schoolbag lying in a heap in the corner of the office. The sudden reminder that she was still in school made her head hurt even worse. "Can I go back to class now – I swear I'm okay and if I faint again you'll be the first one I'll call."

"Not if you're unconscious you won't," the middle-aged woman chided, although she had an almost amused look on her face. "But fine. I've checked you out and the only thing wrong with you is that bump – nothing a little make-up can't hide." She leaned over and picked up Chaya's schoolbag for her, and began to rummage on her desk for something. "It's nearly third period now – "

"I SLEPT THROUGH TWO AND A HALF PERIODS!"

" – so why don't you just go to that class?"

"But I never got my – "

"Timetable? Your friend Mr. McGregor dropped it off when he brought you in," Mrs. Nielson said easily, finally finding what she was looking for and handing her a sheet of paper.

"Why would Johnny have my lists and stuff?" Chaya puzzled as she squinted at the paper that listed all of her classes for that term. It seemed that her third period class was history. A saving grace, in Chaya's opinion, considering History was her best class after English.

The woman didn't seem to hear her as she paused, and then mumbled a warning, "And if I were you I'd steer clear of Ms. Clarkson. She's been in a right strop since someone left the floor waxer run wild in her office. They spent the entire summer re-furbishing everything and she still has to use the teachers lounge like us lesser mortals…serves her right, you know?"

Chaya grinned, suddenly remembering how she and Miyami had worked excruciatingly long on that particular prank at the end of the previous school year. She hadn't known that it had worked out so brilliantly – especially in a way that kept her out of trouble. Unless Clarkson could prove it was her, which she couldn't.

With a shrug and a wave to the nurse, she took her schedule and bag, wearily and angrily starting towards the history room.

"And make sure to let that thing breathe," the woman ordered from behind her, referring to the large shiner that was the only remnant of Chaya's date with the classroom door.

The halls were still the same, Chaya decided as she strolled through the long, narrow corridors. At least from what she could see. Because it was only the beginning of the new school year the walls were void of any colorful artwork and all that she could see where the signs that prohibited pagers, cell phones, CD players and radios of any sort. She sniffed in amusement at the memory of Clarkson attempting to confiscate hers and Miyami's radio the previous March. It seemed they were yet again the cause of another stupid rule being put in place.

Almost exactly a minute after she left the nurses office, the school bell rang and students from all over poured into the constricted halls on their way to their next classes. It was mostly all the same kids, except for the freshman who stuck together in large clumps in case someone might approach them. Chaya smiled kindly at a group of passing freshmen girls who stared at her as though she had snapped at them and then promised to eat their hearts out.

Maybe this year wouldn't be _that_ bad…

The history room was new; it had only been built that summer because the history teachers got annoyed at having to bring all their maps and projectors to the classrooms they were going to. It was the only cash that the school had decided to shell out that year. Chaya hefted her bag over her shoulder and walked into the room, pushing the door out of her way so that it didn't hit her like the last one.

And promptly, she dropped the bag on the ground with a loud _thump _and stared ahead of her.

It hadn't been a dream.

"Mr. Turner!" Chaya yelled loudly, causing the heads of the slowly calming students to turn in her direction. "It can't be you, I left you in New York!"

There was a small silence in the class as the portly gentleman at the front of the class turned around and fixed her in a pointed stare. "I assure you, Miss Mizuhara, this is not a dream…unfortunately," the old man sighed and Chaya peered up at him, taking in the gray head of hair and overly large glasses that took up most of his small face. He was a man of nearly average height with a somewhat stocky build and clothes that proclaimed him of the years before when tweed had been in style. "It seems Fate has decided once again to use her sense of humor to cause us to cross paths."

She gaped at the man that had been her teacher practically since she had started school, still unwilling to believe that he was here at the same school that she was at yet again.

"I don't believe it's you, even though you just gave me a whole load of reasons to with the hoity-toity talk there!" she announced, narrowing her eyes at him suspiciously. "I'm going to ask you a question that only Turner would know – Is your name George Turner?"

The older man sent her an unimpressed look. "It's me, you moron."

"AHHH! It's really him!" she cried, scrambling to her feet and jumping behind a passing sophomore who she didn't know and who wriggled free as fast as possible to slip into his seat. Still out in the open and in plain sight of her old teacher, Chaya felt like a deer in the headlight. "I thought I was done with you! Why are you stalking me?"

"Why would anyone bother, Miss Mizuhara," Mr. Turner sighed. "Now will you please take your seat so that I can get on with the roll call? This is class time, not social time."

Chaya pointed at Turner, gaping as she did so to show that she really didn't understand how he had gotten there. The other students moved back to their seats as she continued with her little charade, by now obviously used to her behavior. Turner too, it seemed, was used to her antics, but reacted to them in a completely different manner than anyone had ever seen.

"NOW!"

"Sir yes sir!" she saluted, and then paused before the expanse of seats, looking around. "Sir, where, sir?"

"Oi! Sit over here, Chaya-and-you-have-no-chance-with-me," a very familiar voice ordered and Chaya did her second double-take of the morning when she found herself staring straight into the gray-blue eyes of one of her best friends, Johnny McGregor.

But that couldn't be right. Johnny was supposed to be a junior this year…

"Johnny?" she asked hesitantly.

"Don't look so surprised, you knew better than anyone that my marks were crap," the redhead sniggered. "So now we're seatmates."

"Oh God," Chaya moaned as she took her seat next to her friend, feeling a dizziness return to her that wasn't caused by the bump on her head. Johnny had failed? He seemed to be the only one of her friends in her class, and not one of he ones she had expected. She recognized for the first time the people in her class and was sad to see that her best friend was not one of the faces that looked back at her, although she recognized Haley Jones and Flash Jameson from last year. And Turner – why was Turner here? He was prattling on about something to do with having just moved here from New York, and how he was going to teach history.

The annoying man had been her teacher since the second grade when she and her family had lived in Montreal, Canada. He had been the cynical, extremely uptight teacher that really shouldn't have been around children at that time because he treated them like adults…and spoke to him as such. She'd barely passed the year and others that she knew had failed outright. She'd had him again in the fourth grade and then they had moved to Berlin and she had forgotten about him. When she was eleven the family had moved to New York and she had met the old gremlin again and he had taught her three years in a row and then she had had a different teacher in the eighth grade.

And now she had him again.

"You planned this, didn't you?" she interrupted his lecture, causing people to stare over at her, although not in surprise. By now the entire school knew about Chaya's attitude and mental state.

"Oh yes, I have been plotting the demise of a pupil since I was a wee child of three," Turner said in the mechanically sarcastic way that Chaya remembered from years earlier, not giving any real lecture to her for interrupting. After all, he knew her as well – if not better – than the people in the class. That meant he knew that lectures really didn't do anything.

"It's hard to imagine you as a kid," she frowned. "Did your parents call you Mr. Turner?"

"Do your parents call you slack-jawed imbecile?"

"Oh, point to Turner," Chaya mumbled, settling in her seat once again, a feeling of petulant annoyance washing over her. "This year will be long and arduous…"

"Uh…what's that word?" Johnny asked in a whisper and she rolled her eyes.

Well, she had been right about the 'long' part…

(-)

"Oh…my…God," Chaya groaned as she slumped out of class. "I forgot how hard he likes to make things…why is he such an annoying lunatic!"

"For the precise reason that you are a bumbling idiot," Turner said as he passed by Chaya and Johnny on their way out.

Chaya screwed up her face and ridiculed his words with her face and quipping hands. He raised an eyebrow at her. "Miss Mizuhara, correct me if I'm wrong, but is it not customary to wait until the person in question is not staring right at you before you mock them?"

"Um…maybe?"

"You have not change a bit," he sighed and walked away. She was saved from replying to that when something heavy slammed into her, making her nearly lose her balance, her knees buckling and the oxygen being squeezed from her lungs.

"Chaya!"

The voice of her best friend rang throughout the hallways loudly and a rueful grin appeared on her face. "Ow! Miyami! Choking…not breathing!"

"Sorry," her friend said and she pulled away, allowing Chaya to view her best friend for the first time that day. She had dyed her hair again over the summer. Although it still had the pink, green and black streaks running through the silver mass, she had dyed her bangs black to contrast with her silver eyes. "I just miss you so much."

"Fool, you saw me yesterday!"

"Yeah, but I mean I miss having you as my seat mate. Now I have to share with that bitch-cake Claire because she came in late and I had the back seat all to myself," Miyami explained, pouting. "It's so annoying."

"Well I miss you too, because now I have John-john the leprechaun," Chaya sighed, giving the redhead a playful tap on the shoulder. He looked up at her in confusion as though he hadn't been paying attention, and then grinned foolishly.

"Hey, question…you're going on student exchange, right?" the aforementioned redhead asked, completely changing the topic. "How's Aurelia doing? I haven't heard from her in a while…"

"Last I heard her family went on vacation in Belgium," Chaya explained as the three of them made their way towards the cafeteria. Already shouts and cries of despair were drifting into the hallways and Chaya was suddenly absolutely sure that it was tuna casserole being served for lunch.

Damn, and she hadn't even brought her own lunch today…

"That's cool. So when are you leaving for the exchange again?"

"Can't wait to get rid of me, huh, McGregor?"

"No, it's not that! It's – "

"Uh huh, sure…anyway, I leave in October sometime. So start taking orders from me now, I intend to bring back a suitcase of chocolate…"

They passed through the doors of the cafeteria and were instantly hailed by a group of students at the farthest table from the cafeteria lines. Flash Jameson, Iris Messana, Haley Jones, Jennifer Crewe, a certain Taryn Hiwatari and – Chaya broke into a huge smile when she saw that her boyfriend, Ray Kon was part of the group assembled there for once. The Chinese boy was one of the only one of her friends that she could safely say hadn't grown over the summer, other than Flash, who was a short ball of energy whenever he ate vanilla. Ray had told her the year before that he'd already reached his maximum height, something she didn't mind at all considering he didn't completely tower over her – unlike the rest of the guys she knew. Her brother was bound to reach six-feet, Johnny was half a head taller than her – and all of her time hated seniors towered over her.

'Ugh, now I'm thinking of Hiwatari again – great,' she made a face as she and Miyami strode forward.

"You look a little sick, Ray said as she sat down and he leaned over and kissed her lightly, a gesture she returned with a grin on her face.

"I just remembered that I didn't bring my lunch today," she replied, inwardly wincing at the lie. "I hadn't thought that they were going to bring out the big guns of destruction this early in the year."

"Ah, but never underestimate the powers of grossness of the Jefferson High cafeteria," Haley Jones warned and Chaya grinned at her blue-haired friend. Haley hadn't changed much over the summer; she still wore the same rough and tough clothing and the dark shades. Beside her, her best friend Jennifer Crewe tucked into a vegetarian salad that she had brought from home. Her curly auburn hair was now worn short and she wore a light blue flowered dress and a violet over-shirt. "They can always get you on your back."

"Yeah, well, I already am on my back," Chaya grumbled as she dug into her pockets for some money. "Maybe I can get away with just a carton of spoiled milk today…you never know when they'll force-feed you the stuff."

The others laughed.

"What'd we miss?" a voice asked and Chaya turned to see her twin brother Max appear, carrying a tray of tuna casserole. Behind him was his boyfriend Tyson Granger, who had an ever present grin on his face. Together they made a striking pair, as over the summer both had gotten taller…and Max's voice had begun to change, which Chaya was constantly ridiculing. Her brother's hair had grown longer and fell past his ears in a wavy way and Tyson's skin had darkened to make him look quite tanned in comparison to the year before. Another stud graced his ear and Chaya had heard a rumor from her brother that he had gotten a tattoo in a rather interesting place over the summer. Chaya shuddered even at the thought…

"You missed the part where I said I was going to kill you if you let me sleep in this morning," Chaya growled, her eyes narrowing at her brother. Max suddenly looked a little nervous. "Maxie, you did it again! What is with you and making me late!"

"Well if you'd just set your alarm for earlier in the morning and not depend on me to wake you up," he reminded her.

"Ugh! Betrayed by my own flesh and blood," Chaya moaned dramatically. "I thought you – of all people – the one who had shared the womb with me – would realize that waking me up in the morning is another bonding activity…"

"Chays? Get a life."

Laughter followed her brother's statement and she rolled her eyes.

"Fine. I know when I'm not wanted," she sniffed and turned away. "Now excuse me as I walk to my doom."

"What, the shower?"

Chaya froze immediately in her joking, primadonnaish manner and slowly turned around to face yet another one of the voices that annoyed her beyond all things. Verbal sparring partner for one of the first time, Tala Ivanov was smirking down at her self-righteously, for the first time leading the group of four seniors that had plagued her since her arrival at Bethany High.

With clear blue eyes and vibrant red hair, Ivanov was the tallest of the group, rivaled perhaps only by Kai Hiwatari, who had actually showed up to school and was currently frowning and looking anywhere but at her, almost as though he would rather be anywhere else. In fact he seemed to be disgusted at something and clenching his fists, his jaw clenched. Chaya was slightly surprised that it wasn't him that was attempting to insult her. The two were flanked by their two ever-drug-addicted friends, Bryan Kuznetsov and Ozuma Sato. Kuznetsov, who Chaya had never once heard speak in her life, was miraculously void of his usual cigarette or joint, but Sato had his arms slung, yet again, around the waist of an abnormally skinny, overly-beautified sophomore.

"Creative Ivanov, how many nights did it take you to come up with that one?" she replied without hesitation, noticing the silence that had fallen over her friends. To them, watching her argue with Hiwatari or his friends was some kind of entertainment, something she always yelled at them about after the event had ended.

"Ouch, it has claws," Ivanov smirked, glancing back at Hiwatari as though waiting for some kind of indication that this amusing. When there amusing, he frowned and looked back at her. "You know, Mizuhara, I heard some awful news about you and a door – do they kiss better than actual guys?" Chaya's face acquired a faint tinge of pink and she glared at the redhead stronger than before. "What will your squeeze think about you when he hears that you were cheating on him with a door?"

"Screw off Ivanov," Ray ordered, sounding more bored of Ivanov's antics than actually insulted.

"No, but we actually want to hear this?" Ivanov said, grinning widely at Chaya, his eyes glinting maliciously. "Especially Kai, right, dude?"

A freezing note of shock gripped her for a moment and the realization that Ivanov seemed to know more than he should overtook Chaya for a moment. She stared over at Hiwatari, who hadn't spoken yet. To her confusion, he seemed to be trying to find a way out of this situation. When it seemed there was none, he shrugged and she saw the return of his usual smug smirk. "Yes, I would."

Whether anyone other than Miyami, and now Ivanov it seemed, noticed the strange tension between Chaya and the older Hiwatari, it was impossible to tell. She was gritting her teeth, trying to find some way around this situation all the while hopefully sending the slate-haired junior that he was treading on thin, dangerous ground. She had spent the entire summer ordering herself not to think about him, considering every thought brought her back to the memory of the day he had kissed her – for no reason other than he had felt like it! – and how strange and awful and really not all horrible it had been.

Ivanov crossed his arms. "Cat got your tongue, Mizuhara?"

Her attention immediately snapped to the redhead and she could practically hear the electricity of her anger spark. "Well I don't know about Ray, but the door did better than any of you could ever do, fish-lips."

There were shouts of "Burn!" echoing around her table and Ray winked at her. Even though she had been glowering at Ivanov, she knew that the words were meant for Kai. As did he, it seemed.

His expression changed dramatically from the teasing, bad-ass one to being unimpressed. She had hit him where it hurt, at what he was best at doing – that is, screwing around with the feelings of the opposite sex. Of course she was lying, and she knew it. The smug bastard had stolen her first kiss and done a good job of it too. But she wasn't going to say anything to that effect; especially in front of Ray or the entire body of students that was currently watching for yet another fight between her and Kai Hiwatari.

His voice was quiet, just as it had been that morning when she had bumped into him, and it was tight with a tense anger that had Chaya's curiosity peaked for the moment before he opened his mouth to speak. "Don't strain yourself too much to lie there, Blondie."

"Who said I was straining myself?"

His eyes were dark and malicious, and for a moment Chaya thought that she saw a glint not only of his smug anger that was usually directed at her, but resentment and actually burning hatred. She felt a shiver at this, but ordered herself to keep up her cool. "Wouldn't want you to be caught in a lie."

"What lie?"

"You know what I'm talking about," the strange glint was gone, but it did nothing the quell the sudden appearance of worry.

"Screw you, Hiwatari," she snarled, letting herself give into the urges to hit him as she leapt at the senior.

Before they could even get at each other, though, both students were held back by others. She fumed. "Come on, McGregor, I won't kill 'im! I'll just maul him a little."

Hiwatari made a grim face, looking away even as Ivanov moved in front of him to keep him away from the angry blond teenager.

"Like hell, I remember when you said the same thing last year…and then you ended up in a concussion and he got a broken nose and fractured wrist," her friend grunted as he hauled her away from the older boy.

"Forget what happened last year, this year I'll be smart enough to hide all of the evidence!" she argued spitefully, maneuvering away from Johnny, jumping over Ivanov's arms and trying to land a blow on him. Hiwatari caught her fists emotionlessly, looking at her almost pityingly as she tried to get at him. She winced at the crushing pressure that he was putting on her hands, seeing that strange, feral and dangerous look in his eyes again.

"CHAYA-AMELIA MIZUHARA! KAI HIWATARI! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!"

Both of them froze when they heard the shrill, hard-as-nails voice of their vice principal as she entered the cafeteria, flanked by a group of students who had obviously gone to tell her about their imminent fight. With a resigned air, Hiwatari and Chaya looked at each other, and then turned in unison towards her the direction, knowing that this was what was expected of them.

(-)

"I am appalled by you behavior," the short, squat woman shouted as she paced around her office, looking like a squat-faced gremlin. Kai and Chaya followed her progress with their heads, both keeping unreadable expressions on their faces. "What kind of example are you going to be for your piers? Especially the new students?"

"Sorry." The two chorused flatly.

"Sorry, sorry…you're always sorry!" Clarkson snapped, glaring at them both. "And it never changes anything. I want you both in detention after school today and think about what you did when you're on your way to class. Now, you may leave."

And she made a gesture as though to dismiss the two of them from the queen's presence.

A heavy silence hung between the two of them as they walked out of the teachers lounge where Clarkson's office was for the time being. While under the intense gazes of the professors, neither did anything, pretending that the other one didn't exist. The minute they got into a deserted hallway, however, Chaya shoved Hiwatari, rounding on him angrily. "What the hell is your problem, you ass?" she snarled. "It's enough that I had to spend the entire summer repressing that memory, you go and almost tell everyone what happened – are you that desperate for people to notice you that you'd stoop to blackmail?"

He didn't reply, instead turning away and ignoring her.

A note of confused annoyance flashed inside her and she stalked after him, ready to pull him around by the shoulder, "Don't walk away from me when I'm talking to y –"

Seconds later she found herself pushed roughly against the wall, the back of her head connecting with the hollow partition, and Hiwatari's hands gripping her shoulders tightly as he glared down at her, any traces of humor and smugness replaced with that terrifying look of anger, resentment and actual hatred.

He leaned in close to her, his eyes actually level with her own, and hissed, "I'm warning you Mizuhara – don't fuck with me."

And with that he pushed her even further into the wall and stalked away, his fists clenched.

Chaya felt her knees buckle and she leaned against the wall for support, staring at Hiwatari's back in complete shock. Her shoulder hurt and she could feel bruises forming where he had gripped her tightly.

'What was that all about?'

* * *

And here is where the BITS begins to diverge from the last plot. I figured we should put Kai more in character with the way he should be and have Chaya begin to sort of mature…slowly. 

R&R,

Kuriness


	3. Candy Apple Sunshine

**_Burning in the Sea_**

Author: KuriQuinn

Title: Burning in the Sea

Fandom: Bakuten Shoot Beyblade

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade, never will and have no intention of leading a crusade to try to own them. That's too much money and too much effort. However, I do like to manipulate the characters to do my bidding because it amuses me and countless others. This is the only disclaimer you will see in this fic, so if you decide to review me saying that I didn't give credit to the real person that came up with Beyblade (Aoki Takao) I will calmly tell you to go screw yourself. That is all

Fanfiction Disclaimer: Chaya is my own creation, as is Haley, Jennifer, Claire and anyone else that you don't recognize. Miyami Kinomiya belongs to Mags, my best friend. Aurelia Delk belongs to Band-Freak aka Lobo-Chan. And that is all for now...Flash Jameson belongs to Flash, Iris Messana belongs to Iz

Rating: R for language, mature themes and mature humour

Pairing: Figure it out.

Takes-Place: Alternate Universe

Summary: When you live in small town, where everything and everyone is the same, what are you supposed to do? Why, wreak whatever hell you can, of course

**

* * *

Chapter Three: Candy-Apple Sunshine **

"Got your lunch?"

"Check."

"Gym clothes?"

"Check."

"Bus tickets and money in case you go to Miyami's?"

"Check-check." Chaya slung her school bag over her shoulders and grinned up at her father, who although was joking around her, seemed to be preoccupied with something. "Thanks dad."

"No problem," he replied, smiling wearily and looking out the door after Max, who had left the house not two minutes ago. "Make sure you come home at a reasonable our, okay?"

"Sure thing Dad," the blond grinned, getting ready to go out the door.

She was stopped by a hand on her shoulder and turned slightly to face her father again. He was frowning as though in thought, but lost the look moments later. "Just a question, but are you going to be staying late at school much this year?"

"Uh, not that I know of," Chaya began slowly, confused. "At least not if Clarkson has anything to say about it – why?"

"Well, er, I think it's time that you and Max began to help out in the shop," her father explained as he leaned again the doorframe, the preoccupied look on his face still there. "It would be a big help to your mother and I, not to mention you'd be earning your own money instead of having to home to me and your mother every other minute with your hands out asking for allowance."

"Hm…good-point daddy," Chaya allowed, even though for some reason she figured that there was more to just what her father was saying to her. "Nah, sure we can start coming home early – I'll make sure to tell Max."

"That's great," her father looked relieved. "Now, get going before you're late. Again."

"Hah, hah," the teen deadpanned as she left the house. Max was already walking at the side of the road, having left with out her as was becoming usual. "Hey Max! Wait for me! Come on, slow down!"

(-)

"So let me get this straight," Chaya said, frowning at one of her science partner's Iris Messana. "The ionic one is the one that has to share with the other one? Or is that the covalent one?"

"It's the covalent one," Iris rolled her eyes. "You know, the 'co' part of the world should kind of tip you off about the sharing."

"Yeah, well, I never said I was good at this," Chaya snapped. "I'm an artist, not a scientist!"

"That's physicist," Iris corrected.

"Whatever."

Chaya looked around the science room. Their teacher, Ms. Anderson had given them class time to begin their homework and separated them into groups according to how they had been sitting that day. Hence the reason that she was working with Iris Messana and Flash Jameson instead of the others. Johnny, Haley and Tyson were in a group across the room and even her good friend Taryn was paired with Jezzy McCormic, a girl Chaya recalled to have gone out with Ray the previous year.

"So what did you do this summer?" Iris asked as Flash wrote down the next problem on the homework sheet, occasionally glancing up to participate in the conversation.

"The usual. Hung out, went to movies and stuff. You?" Chaya answered.

"My family and I went to Italy to see our never-ending slew of relatives. So what kind of hanging out did you do?"

"Hanging out. I don't know how I should elaborate on that, there was a lot to do."

"No need to get all snappy about it," Iris said defensively. "I was just asking!"

"I wasn't getting snappy," Chaya replied.

"Don't mind her," Flash said, shaking a lock of blond hair out of his amber eyes. "She's just good at being nosy."

"I'm not nosy!" his friend protested. "Nosiness is defined as the 'inquiring or snooping nature in other people's business'. I wasn't being nosy, because technically she doesn't have any business yet. So I was just 'inquiring'."

"Whatever," Flash mumbled to his brown haired, hazel-eyed friend. "I still think you're nosy."

Chaya rolled her eyes at her two friends, watching carefully as Ms. Anderson navigated through the booby-trap of bodies and chairs to answer a knock at the door. As soon as she wasn't looking, Chaya leaned away from her group and nudged Taryn with her elbow.

Her gothic friend looked up at her, crimson eyes still filled with sadistic humor and outlined with black. Her once half-shorn hair was now fully shorn so that it was cropped short but could still be fixed with clips and other hair trinkets. She wore black corset and black jeans today, as well as steel-toed boots that she never let Chaya borrow despite her begging. "Hey dudette, I haven't seen you in a while."

Taryn shrugged, checking something with Jezzy, before turning fully to face Chaya. Her face was drawn, for a moment reminding Chaya so completely of the crimson-eyed girl's older brother that she nearly balked.

"Obviously," the girl said, her Russian accent much stronger than usual. "I spent the entire summer with Grandfather." She didn't sound too pleased with this fact. "It was not a pleasant experience."

"Well with your brother around I understa –"

"You know, contrary to popular belief, not everything is Kai's fault," Taryn snapped.

Chaya pulled back slightly at her friend's voice, a frown of confusion on her face. In a voice attempting to hide the mental injury, Chaya mumbled, "_So_rry."

Taryn fixed her in a calculating gaze, before sighing and shaking her head. "Don't brother apologizing, it's not your fault – I just had a really bad summer."

Science work forgotten, Chaya leaned forward, her chair tipping slightly as she moved closer to her Russian friend. "Why?"

"Remember how we were supposed to spent the summer in Russia?" Taryn deadpanned. "Well we spent about four days there before it suddenly occurred to Grandfather that Vaughn was doing business there –"

"Who's Vaughn?"

"– our older half-brother," Taryn explained quickly, and Chaya remembered having heard something to that effect at least once or twice before.

"Right…"

"Anyhow, Grandfather always makes it plain that Vaughn's his favorite so being around the two of them really sucks – that and my grandfather is a sexist asshole to boot. He spent the entire summer ignoring me, except to tell me that I was a disgrace to women because of how I dress and act and other shit," the Goth yawned. "And then he started on Kai too – the whole 'you're not good enough, you'll never be good enough' spiel. I don't think an hour went by this summer that the old coot didn't compare Kai to Vaughn, and when he wasn't comparing, he was pointing out everything that was wrong with the two of us, that it was our father's fault and that our mother should never have married him and then he started blaming you –"

"Me?" Chaya made a face out of total confusion. "What've I got to do with anything?"

"A shitload apparently," Taryn rolled her eyes, still looking angry. "You're a bad influence on me, he says, and you're the reason I act the way that I do – disregard the fact I crashed the tank into the school _before_ I met you – and that you corrupt me. And then he yelled at Kai, first for rising to your level and ruining both of their reputations by your stupid fighting and then because he was being challenged by a woman – and then he decided that our interests don't matter in the big scheme of things, it's what he wants. Even though he's leaving the family funds and the business to Vaughn when he dies he expects Kai to give up wanting to be a pilot and go to law school or business so he can work for Vaughn and he expects me magically decide not to want to become a politician so that I can become a teacher in something or other and then marry one of his underlings and give him gazillions of great-grand-children – the guys a moron, Chays."

"I'll say," Chaya whistled, having never heard Taryn talk so much in the entire time that they had met. But what she had just told her made a lot of sense. Now she understood why Taryn seemed to be so edgy and why her brother was being an even bigger jerk than usual. It was obvious that if she was causing even more trouble for him, up on the level with his family that he would resent her more than was standard. But that didn't mean he had to get violent about it, her mind grumbled angrily.

"Sheesh, I didn't realize when I was asking 'why' I'd get all of this," she mumbled, looking away from her friend for a moment. "I know what you guys are going through, much as it makes me want to hurl that I have anything in common with your brother –" Something made her think of that time the year before when she had seen his room and found out that despite their mutual hatred they had many of the same interests, including music and opinions, in common, "– considering that's what having Becky as an older sister is like – except there's nothing corporate involved and my parents don't expect me to have kids until I'm damn good and ready."

"Lucky you –"

She smiled sympathetically. "Have you guys tried talking to him and telling him how you feel about it?"

"Yeah, but do you really think he'd listen?" Taryn deadpanned. "This guy grew up in Soviet Russia – giving orders is what he's good at and punishing people for not obeying is something he's even better at."

"That doesn't mean shit-all," Chaya replied with conviction. "He's not in Russia anymore, chica, and unless he's got plans of moving back there sometime – not that he'll be tolerated there either, I mean maybe he'd like to try China or Cuba or something – he's going to have to knock himself into twentieth century America. And the sad thing is, even we're not free, what with all the morons that want Bush elected for another term…"

She received a slew of dirty looks from quite a few of her classmates who had been eavesdropping on hers and Taryn's conversation and returned the glares. "You know, just because you guys looked at me like that doesn't mean I'm going to miraculously shut up. The guy's an idiotic, greedy opportunist that is the reason our country is seen as the bullying shit disturbers from the rest of the world – why do you think there's so much trouble environmentally? And who do you think had a hand in Osama buttin' his head in here? Can you say "on US payroll"? That whole thing about invading Iraq is bullshit and you and your parents know it! And if you're bored and ticked enough to stick around after class I'll give you the full rant –"

She turned back to Taryn as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened. "Your grandfather has a lot of issues." Taryn was looking at her strangely and she paused, more to draw a breath than anything, and cocked her head to one side. "What?"

"You don't have a filter, do you?" the slate-haired girl asked her, half amused half anxious.

"Uh, a what?"

"You know, a filter. Between your brain and your mouth."

"Sure I do," Chaya shrugged, fiddling with her pencil and grinning. "I just don't have it turned on right now."

"Ah. Well, that figures."

Taryn made to turn back to her work and Chaya all of a sudden reached over to her, her brazen attitude gone for a split second and replaced with general worry. "You're not mad at me, are you? Like, we're still friends even though your grandfather blames me for corrupting you?"

Taryn snorted. "Should I even dignify that with a response?"

Chaya beamed. "Well, you just did, technically. But yeah, you're right, it was a stupid question."

"Honestly, sometimes you can be as clueless as Kai…"

Chaya's smile faded. "Don't joke."

The bell rang, putting an end to the class as well as hers and Taryn's long talk. Ms. Anderson was sending the two of them angry looks for having wasted the entire class talking and it was probably for that reason that they were the only ones that were given extra homework that class.

Although she looked around comically for any of the kids that had been sending her dirty looks after her Anti-Bush rant, no one stopped by the door, and those that she knew for sure had been ticked off at her merely frowned at her and then averted their gaze as they walked by.

Chaya snorted in amusement and left the class after everyone else. It was amusing that although most of the kids around her had a political opinion, it was usually one inherited from their families and based on nothing but the absolute extremes. She highly doubted whether anyone other than her and possibly some of her friends did their research before deciding that they had an opinion.

Mr. Turner had once told her that an opinion was nothing but a group of prejudices that had been gathered by the age of eighteen and that technically, no one uninformed had an opinion. She hadn't really understood the meaning of that at the time, considering she had been about eleven, but now she actually appreciated the words.

Not that she would ever tell him that of course…

"CHAYA!"

She winced and looked around for the owner of that voice, knowing that if she didn't she might find herself on the receiving end of a desperate glomp and meeting with the floor

"Hey Yams," she said, stepping back against the wall to avoid collision with her best friend. "What's up?"

Her silver-streaked haired friends skidded to a stop a few feet in front of her, doubling over for a breath, before looking up imploringly at Chaya.

"Can I copy your English homework? That annoying bitch decided to check it today and I didn't do it," her friend panted. "It counts for marks and I'm already in her bad books and you're the only one I can think of that does the same crap as we do."

"Uh, sure?" Chaya blinked, moving away from the wall and facing her friend, hands on her hips. "It's in my locker – you know my combo?"

"No duh," Miyami rolled her eyes. "Are you sure it's a good idea to keep your homework in there? You know, considering the golden rule of us not being allowed to go to our lockers in between classes?"

"That's another stupid rule that Clarkson made up," Chaya dismissed. "I swear the woman has nothing better to do with her time." Miyami's eyes widened suddenly and a smile seemed to be tugging at her lips but just wouldn't manifest itself. "I think she stays up nights thinking of stupid rules, just to keep herself busy while she's taking the gluttonous amounts of hairspray out of her hair…" Miyami's lips tightened and all of a sudden Chaya felt as though something was looming mere inches from her back.

She winced, suddenly wishing that she had turned on the filter between her brain and her mouth. "She's right behind me, isn't she?"

Miyami didn't respond as the meaty hand fell on Chaya's shoulder and the hard as nails voice of her vice principal boomed, "Come with me Chaya-Amelia, we have some things to talk about regarding manners…"

(-)

"…so I missed even more class so that the old coot could lecture me and then she gave me detention for loitering in the hallways," Chaya grumbled as she and Max walked into their driveway after school. Her brother shrugged, an amused smile on his face. She knew that he was inwardly laughing at her for getting into trouble with Clarkson again. "Shush, I know what you're going to say – and now I also feel really crappy and guilty because of that jerk."

"Clarkson?"

"No, Taryn's grandfather – Max, are you even listening?"

"Yeah, but it's kind of hard when you go off on strange tangents like that," her twin shrugged. "Mom does that too – it has to be a girl thing."

"Max, you can't use that excuse any more," Chaya pointed out, unimpressed.

Max made a face at her. "Yeah I can. Just because I'm…you know –" Chaya shook her head at her brothers reluctance to admit his own sexual-orientation. It was cute sometimes. Other times she wanted to yell at him to buck up and just go with it. "– doesn't mean that my brain is automatically wired the way yours is."

Chaya grumbled in reply as her brother continued. "Speaking of, I don't even understand why you feel guilty. I thought you hate Hiwatari."

"Much as I love to make his life miserable and be the reason that he is suffering, I know perfectly well what it's like to be compared to someone and never measure up," Chaya replied simply, frowning. "Which is why I want to go up to what's-his-name Oreskovic and tell him exactly what I think." She noticed Max's face. "For Taryn. Because she's my friend."

"Much as I would love to believe you, I really doubt you'll ever do that," Max rolled his blue eyes at her.

"And why not!"

"One, because you're a born procrastinator and will never do anything that requires effort and two, you do remember that Taryn's grandfather is a former Russian ambassador, right? He probably has body-guards and the whole enchilada around him constantly. You've been to his house – you've seen it."

"Okay, yeah, the only body-guards I've ever seen hang around down the street in their parked black SUV's trying to look inconspicuous and failing miserably. And the only one inside is the butler – and even Olaf doesn't care when I come over anymore."

"I still say you won't do it because you're a procrastinator."

She moaned, rubbing the bridge of her nose in annoyance. "Have I already said that this is going to be a long and annoying year? It's just something I feel in my bones."

Max laughed. "You sound as though you're an old woman with arthritis."

"Well I feel it," Chaya grumbled as they walked through the hobby shop towards the stairs that led to the apartment. "I have enough complications without having ugly guilt and a sarcastic brother on my plate. Things can't possibly get any worse than they already a –"

"How could this happen! I-I can't do this again, Takato, I – how – ?"

Chaya's hand paused on the door-handle that led to the living area, her mother's voice echoing loudly above her and Max. The twins looked at each other, as though debating whether they should stick their noses into this affair, before both of them dropped their bags on the floor and hurried up the stairs two at a time.

Their father was leaning against the bathroom doorframe, looking almost at a loss, while their mother was sitting in the small bathroom on the toilet seat, still in her housecoat and slippers from that morning, her legs drawn up to her chest in almost child-like state.

Max was the first one to speak, his voice tentative. "Dad…what's wrong?"

"Kids, maybe you should go to your room while your mother collects herself and then we'll – "

"How about you don't beat around the bush and just tell us what's going on?" Chaya interrupted, looking from one parent to the other. The look of anguish and disbelief on her mother's face was scaring her. Was there something really wrong? What if something serious had happened.

"Chaya – " her brother, ready to do as he was told, moved to pull Chaya away from their parents but she shrugged him off, staring at her father intently and challengingly.

"Dad, what the hell is going on?"

It was obvious that Chaya had no intention of leaving, and while she still stood there, Max wasn't going to leave either. Their father sighed at them, looking from them, to their mother, who glanced up and nodded shakily. He cleared his throat to speak, his voice low and tinged with a hint of wonder. "Your mother…is pregnant."

* * *

Alrighty, that chapter's done – as veteran readers will notice, I completely took Miriam out of this chapter – in fact, I removed her from the entire story-line until further notice. She was just adding too much complication. I'll put her in at a later date. 

Also, I made Judy less of a bitch just so that I could make her a little more real to me. Don't worry, she still has her moments, but she won't be as immature as before.

R&R,

KuriQuinn


	4. Caramel Camel

**_Burning in the Sea_**

Author: KuriQuinn

Title: Burning in the Sea

Fandom: Bakuten Shoot Beyblade

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade, never will and have no intention of leading a crusade to try to own them. That's too much money and too much effort. However, I do like to manipulate the characters to do my bidding because it amuses me and countless others. This is the only disclaimer you will see in this fic, so if you decide to review me saying that I didn't give credit to the real person that came up with Beyblade (Aoki Takao) I will calmly tell you to go screw yourself. That is all

Fanfiction Disclaimer: Chaya is my own creation, as is Haley, Jennifer, Claire and anyone else that you don't recognize. Miyami Kinomiya belongs to Mags, my best friend. Aurelia Delk belongs to Band-Freak aka Lobo-Chan. And that is all for now...Flash Jameson belongs to Flash, Iris Messana belongs to Iz

Rating: R for language, mature themes and mature humour

Pairing: Figure it out.

Takes-Place: Alternate Universe

Summary: When you live in small town, where everything and everyone is the same, what are you supposed to do? Why, wreak whatever hell you can, of course

**

* * *

Chapter Four: Caramel Camel **

For a moment there was complete silence echoing throughout the house, before Chaya managed to find her voice.

"Pr-pregnant?" she stuttered, disbelief running rampant through her feelings. "What do you mean, pregnant? Why – when – how – okay, I know how, but – _don't you people use protection_!"

"Don't take that tone with your father and I," Judy ordered, recovering herself for a moment. "I don't need you lecturing or patronizing me like I'm one of your trashy friends from school. It's enough that I have one brazen kid and now I get the joy of having another one."

"I love how that's always the reaction you get when you talk about me," Chaya replied icily. "I bet if it was Becky you'd be sobbing for joy that you might have another perfect child! Is this what you said when you found out about me and Max? That you were going to have horrible, brazen kids that could never match up to your other daughter!"

"Chaya - !" her fathers reprimand didn't stop her mother from yelling back loudly.

"Don't talk to me that way, you little ingrate! You're such a selfish brat it's not even funny, Chaya-Amelia!"

"And you're so full of it," Chaya shot back. "Ever since Max and I were born I can't remember a single time you weren't obsessed with your looks so that you could look young enough to have us – even though you were! My god, mom, you're not even forty yet! Some women are only having their first child now and you're worried about your fourth! You're supposed to be mature, but you're like a twelve year old. And now you go and get yourself pregnant. Yeah, real smart mom. And I bet the first words that appeared in your head when you found out were 'abortion'."

"You think I know what I'm thinking, do you?" Judy mocked angrily, her voice echoing so loudly in the small bathroom that Max and Takato both winced. "You're just it, aren't you, Chaya? You're the perfect one, you can do no wrong…it's always someone else, right?"

"Judy – "

"I wonder where I get it from!" Chaya shouted back.

Judy snarled. "The problem with you Chaya, is your selfish. You don't know you're place and you always have to know what's best for everyone else. You're not the one that will have to carry this child for nine months, endure all the medical tests and complications that might come with it and then after that give up your life to raise it. But oh, you know what I should do, right?"

"I know what the right thing to do is!" the younger teen yelled. "Abortion in this case is wrong! And if you get one, I'll sue you for murder and malicious intent to minors!"

"Are you threatening me?"

"No, I'm telling you."

"Knock it off, both of you," Takato called out loudly from where he and Max had been playing the spectators since the argument began. Chaya and her mother paused for a moment, for the first time remembering that there were other parties involved in this matter. "You're acting like children. This is an adult matter and we're trying to let you have your input because this is a civilized family. Chaya, stop treating your mother like that, she's going through a lot right now and Judy, you have to calm down. She's only worried about you and the baby."

There was a pause as mother and daughter looked at each other grudgingly, before looking away. Judy sighed, wringing her hands. "I just…I just feel like my care-giving days should be over," Judy said, her voice somewhat softer than before. "I'm too old to have a baby. I feel too old to have a baby. And what about raising it? We're going to need a bigger house, have enough to take care of it with, pay for more schooling – and we're all so busy, who will stay home with it?"

"Sweetie, we can cross that bridge when the time comes," Chaya's father said soothingly, inching into the bathroom and putting an arm around his wife. "Right now we just have to focus on what's happening – we're going to have a baby and even though its…unexpected…it's a wonderful thing, isn't it?"

"Yeah, for the next eighteen years that little tiger's gonna keep you busy day and night," Max added his voice quiet and hopeful after having seen the argument between his mother and sister mere moments ago.

"They're right, mom," Chaya said, somewhat less aggravated than she had been before. "Just, you're not going to have time for cosmetics or diets or nose rings. You've got this new life coming into the world. It's gonna be counting on you. Grow up!"

"Grow up! I am grown up!" Judy cried, sinking back against her husband. "I'm so grown up that I'm not sure if I can do this all over again."

"Oh, of course you can," Max said. "You did a good job two times before."

"That's three," Chaya corrected.

"I said what I said."

The youngest member of the family glared at her brother and then turned back to her mother. "Look, mom, things are freaky now, but you have to think things through. Abortion isn't good for you and I don't support it. If you choose to do that, I'll never forgive you."

"Chaya, I think you've said enough now," her father said gently. "You've both projected your opinion, now it's time for your mother and me to discuss it amongst ourselves."

"But – "

"No buts. You and Max go watch the shop for a while, I'm sure anyone that's down there will be worried that they're not getting served."

Chaya looked as though she were about to argue with her father, but the serious look on his face made her change her mind and she nodded with a sigh and stalked towards the stairs. She was followed down by Max, who kept glancing back at his parents in worry as they left.

As soon as they door closed behind them, Max rounded on Chaya, his face angry. "What is your problem? Why do you always have to be such a bitch to her? You're so ungrateful sometimes, you know that?"

"I'm as grateful as she deserves," the blond shot back. "What did she ever do for me growing up, Max? Except compare me to Becky? And punish me for things that weren't my fault?"

"You're remembering things only as you want to," her twin argued. "You were a hard kid, Chaya, you deserved a lot of what you got."

"And who are you to be the judge of that?" Chaya demanded, ignoring the ringing phone in the shop. "You were always too busy kissing up to everyone to make sure you weren't in trouble to actually know what trouble is!"

"That's not true!"

"Bull! After Becky you were always Judy's favorite!"

"So, you were dad's favorite!"

"Wrong!" Chaya snapped, the ringing phone clamoring over her voice. She strode over towards the counter, followed by her angry twin brother. "Even for Dad, it was always Becky who was the perfect one – Becky who always had good grades and never mouthed off and who everyone in our family loves so much because she's exactly what they expected her to be!" She wrenched the phone off of the hook and barked into the receiver, "Hello!"

"Chaya? Is that you?"

Speak of the devil. The bottom dropped out of Chaya's stomach and she felt everything deflate, save her anger. She recognized this voice and was not impressed. "Oh, it's you. What do you want?"

The voice on the other end of the phone was sarcastic and condescending. "Is that any way to speak to your big sister?"

"It is when she only ever calls to brag about her life and talk about herself – what do you want?"

"Is mom or dad there?"

"They're busy. What do you want?" Chaya ignored her brother as he mouthed at her to tell him who was on the phone.

"How about Max?"

"Not here," Chaya replied, even though he suddenly seemed to figure out who it was and reached for the phone. Chaya danced around the counter out of his way.

"So no one else is there?"

"Damn it, Becky, why don't you just cut to the chase and tell me what the hell is going on?"

"Because I don't want to take the chance of you deciding not to tell Mom and Dad that I called and then they won't find out the news until it's too late," her sister deadpanned. "Considering you're so good at conveniently forgetting things."

"Oh damn. You caught me," Chaya said in a halting, sarcastic voice so as to make her sister think she was reading a script. She was sure that it was a perfect impression of Mr. Turner. "What ever will I do now?"

"Look, just tell mom and dad – "

"If this has anything to do with your stupid wedding, I am hanging up the phone right now…"

" – that there's going to be a new addition to the family sometime in June."

There was a pause as Chaya's jaw dropped and she tightened her grip on the telephone. Max had stopped reaching for the phone and was asking her what was wrong, but she ignored him.

"You're kidding," she grumbled. "You too?"

"What do you mean 'you too'?" Becky demanded, her voice high and squeaky. "Chaya, you're not preg – "

"Not me, you ignoramus," Chaya snapped. "Honestly, is this the kind of person you think I am? That I'd sleep with the first guy that said something nice to me? I learned enough from mom's mistakes to know not to do that."

"Stop being such a brat, Chaya," her sister ordered. "What were you talking about before?"

"Mom. She's knocked up and having a fucking nervous breakdown as we speak."

"Don't use that language," her twenty-four year old sister. "And since when?"

"I guess for a few weeks now, although she only just found out," Chaya grumbled. "But I don't think she wants it. She's going to get an abortion, I can feel it."

"What! Like hell!" Becky cried. "Pass her the phone, I'll talk to her."

"What part of she's busy don't you understand?"

"Do you want me to have to show up there myself?"

"Hang on a sec," the blond girl said, putting the phone down and walking back towards the apartment. She wrenched open the door and stuck her head into the stairwell. "MOM! IT'S BECKY! PICK UP THE PHONE!"

Then she slammed the door again and walked back to the phone. She already heard her mother and Becky chatting and hung it up with gusto.

"You know? Things just got worse," she said to Max.

* * *

Okay, I attempted to fix this chapter up as best I could but then it just got annoying so I left it kind of the same way. Meh, sacrifices… 

R&R please,

KuriQuinn


	5. Fall Down Eight

**_Burning in the Sea_**

Author: KuriQuinn

Title: Burning in the Sea

Fandom: Bakuten Shoot Beyblade

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade, never will and have no intention of leading a crusade to try to own them. That's too much money and too much effort. However, I do like to manipulate the characters to do my bidding because it amuses me and countless others. This is the only disclaimer you will see in this fic, so if you decide to review me saying that I didn't give credit to the real person that came up with Beyblade (Aoki Takao) I will calmly tell you to go screw yourself. That is all.

Fanfiction Disclaimer: Chaya is my own creation, as is Haley, Jennifer, Claire and anyone else that you don't recognize. Miyami Kinomiya belongs to Mags, my best friend. Aurelia Delk belongs to Band-Freak aka Lobo-Chan. And that is all for now...Flash Jameson belongs to Flash, Iris Messana belongs to Iz

Rating: R for language, mature themes and mature humor

Pairing: Figure it out.

Takes-Place: Alternate Universe

Summary: When you live in small town, where everything and everyone is the same, what are you supposed to do? Why, wreak whatever hell you can, of course

**

* * *

Chapter Five: Fall Down Eight **

"So what's your problem today?" Miyami asked as she and Chaya trekked to school. Chaya had been moody and silent the entire morning, for once not because Max had left her behind again, and it was beginning to scare her best friend. "You're in more of a broody silence then usual – actually, you've been like this for almost a week now. What's up?"

"Judy's pregnant," Chaya mumbled wearily with a sigh. "There's this huge controversy going on at home and she's only just decided she was going to keep it – and then of course we have Becky's wedding coming up, and she's pregnant too – and then add that to this crummy feeling I've been having since school started – "

"Okay, way too much information," Miyami said, holding up a hand and a peculiar look appearing on her face. "I'm sorry I asked. You can go back to sulking now."

"But the thing that really takes the cake," Chaya said loudly, ignoring her friend and deciding to just get it all out, "is that she wouldn't even listen to me when I told her not to consider abortion – she gave me all kinds of excuses about health and risk and mid-life crisis and how it would look for her when her colleagues found out – but the minute Becky phoned up to talk to her she decided all of a sudden that it would be so cute for her and Becks to be having kids around the same time."

"Ouch," her friends said sympathetically, and then paused. "Wait, isn't you mom like, only sixteen years older than your sister? Have you ever considered that that's why they're so close? That they're more like best friends than actual mother and daughter? It'd be totally _Gilmore Girls_."

Chaya sent her friend an unimpressed look. "Thanks for comparing my life to a TV show."

"I'm just saying," Miyami shrugged, and then grinned. "Whoa, dude, just a question – but what do you think would happen if our lives were a TV-show? Or a book or something?"

"People would be extremely annoyed, fed up and confused all at the same time," Chaya mumbled, a grin tugging at the corners of her lips. She liked it when Miyami diverted attention from her problems with questions that were so out of the blue that they sometimes scared her.

The school loomed into view before them, kids already on corners or walking the property in their little cliques. It didn't take long to spot their own group of friends…Johnny was doing a rather spirited impression of a chicken while the others pointed, laughing and shaking their heads, some of them pretending that they weren't in any way affiliated with the strange sophomore.

"And other than that – what the hell is McGregor doing?" Chaya's words changed in mid-sentence cut short and she raised an eyebrow. She and Miyami walked up to their group of friends, watching the redhead warily. "He lost another bet again, didn't he?"

"Actually…no," Ray's voice said as he appeared between Chaya and Miyami and looked on, shaking his head as though ashamed. "He wanted to show us all what a good actor he'd make."

"In what, a reality TV show?" Chaya asked darkly.

"God knows," Miyami sighed, slinking out from under Ray's arms and going to join the crowd.

"So, what's up with you, babe," Ray grinned, wiggling his eyebrows in a jokingly suggestive manner as he swept Chaya into his arms teasingly. "You look a little…"

"Pissed?"

"Constipated."

"Oh, gee, thanks, just what I need to hear from my boyfriend," Chaya deadpanned.

"What? You said you prefer honesty," Ray shrugged.

"But not about that," Chaya whined.

"Oh, so mature," he smirked, leaning in and kissing her nose.

"Hey, will you guys get a room," Johnny said, sticking his face close to both of theirs. "You're sickening us lesser mortals with your disgusting displays."

"You only find them disgusting because you can't even hold a girlfriend for ten minutes, let alone a day," Chaya retorted waspishly.

"Well if my luck holds, I won't even have to worry about that," the Scot smirked.

"Why, Einstein, what's your brilliant plan?" Chaya raised an eyebrow as she turned to face her friend, feeling Ray's arms wrapping around her waist and his chin rest on her left shoulder. "Dress up in a Don Juan outfit and pray?"

"No, oh Smart Ass of the Ages," her classmate rejoined. "But the school board's just shelled out cash for a new radio program by the school and is looking for people that might be interested in hosting the shows…and once all those fine ladies here my sexy voice, I'll have more girls than the Sultan of Russia."

"Sultan's don't come from Russia, you idiot," Flash Jameson said flatly. He had wandered over to the usual posse and was just hanging as he waited for Iris to show up. "They presided mostly over Turkey and – "

"Oh shut up, guy, you're wasting your intelligence," Miyami snorted. "He'll just forget it again in a second."

"Johnny, sorry, but I don't think you got what it takes to be one of those radio people," Chaya snorted. "Two words and you'll give away how much of an idiot you are and it'll screw up your entire plan."

Johnny made a face as though purely insulted and drew himself up to his full height, looking totally affronted.

"You dare to impede my intelligence?" he demanded, taking a deep breath as though getting ready to yell. "I won't allow you to -" All the air rushed out of his lungs and he coughed, trying to regain his breath. "Hold on," he wheezed. "I'll be okay…"

"Don't die on us," Ray shook his head, his bangs tickling Chaya's ear.

The bell rang and everyone started towards the door. Chaya began to follow Miyami and co, but Ray held her back, his hold on his arm allowing him to almost twirl her back into his arms as he grinned known at her.

"I want to talk to you first," he said, drawing her back to him and Chaya smiled. She looked back at Johnny and Miyami and called out.

"Hey McGregor! If I'm late for class, fall asleep without me."

"Will do, Chaya-and-you-have-no-chance-with-me," was the reply and she turned back to Ray, grinning happily.

"So? What do you want?"

"To invite you to my birthday celebration," he replied.

"But Ray…we celebrated two weeks ago," she said. "We already had the bash, and the…"

"But I want to celebrate my actual birthday with you," he replied charmingly. "You know that we only have the big one in September because there are more things open then."

"Yeah, but…" she noticed his pleading expression. "Well, what are you doing?"

"I got tickets to a concert," he grinned. "Early birthday present from my folks."

"What concert?"

"Take a guess. I'll give you a hint. You're favorite."

Her jaw dropped.

"You got tickets to Nickelback?" she squealed. He grinned back to affirm this. "OH MY GOD! Ray, you're the best!" she kissed him quickly and then looked at him suspiciously. "Shouldn't we be seeing a band you like for your birthday?"

"Hey, as long as you're happy, that's the best birthday present. Besides, I do like Nickelback – remember?" For some reason she had trouble recalling when he had told her this. "So, pick you up Friday at seven-thirty?"

It was times like these that she was sure that she had found the most perfect boyfriend in the history of boyfriends, Chaya thought as he kissed her and then walked with her towards the school. Ray was exactly what any girl wanted. He was considerate, loving, funny, comforting…he liked seeing her happy, he was always there when she was in a jam.

He was perfect.

'That should be a good thing,' she thought, feeling dejected for a moment. And then perking up, dismissing that brief shadow of strange emotion.

The smell of school entered her nostrils as Ray held the door open for her and then proceeded to walk her towards her History class, all the while talking about how much trouble he was having keeping up with Turner, who was also his History teacher. Every once in a while Chaya added a comment, but before she could actually add anything earth-shattering they had arrived.

Another quick peck on the cheek and Ray was gone, leaving Chaya in front of her classroom.

"Psst! What'd I miss?" Chaya whispered to Johnny as she slipped into her seat while Mr. Turner had his back turned to the class, writing the date on the board for the day ahead of them.

"Not a thing, Miss Mizuhara, I was just about to read the general address made by Ms. Clarkson," Turner turned and peered at her. "If you are going to be late and sneak in, attempt to do so without drawing obvious attention to yourself."

"D'oh!" she winced and Johnny sniggered.

"Now, to attend to the matters at hand," Mr. Turner cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses before peering at the small sheet printed in pink in his hands. "Please note that due to lack of interest and budget cuts that the football season…"

"Uh oh," Johnny muttered, not liking the direction this was going in.

"…will be cancelled."

"But that means…"Johnny trailed off.

"Yes, Mr. McGregor," Mr. Turner looked up, rather bored. "_No cheerleaders._"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Johnny wailed, hitting his head on his desk as the other people in the class stared on in confusion and pity. Even Chaya moved away from him slightly, before reaching out and patting him on the back for a moment.

"Johnny, come on, it's worth it for your radio thingy, right? We have to be willing to make sacrifices –"

Johnny jumped up and grabbed her by the front of her shirt. "They took away my girls," he hissed. "WHY DON'T WE JUST SACRIFICE YOU!"

"Sit boy," Iris called over from her seat next to Haley. "You're making an ass of yourself."

"Once again I ask if that's any different from any other day," Haley rolled her brown eyes.

Johnny finally let go of Chaya's shirt and settled back into his chair, sending murderous glances in Turner's direction as he continued to read the bulletin from Clarkson. Chaya shook her head, wondering why she put up with such a strange friend. Every once in a while she wondered if Johnny was really all there.

"…and finally, for those of you in my history class, I have your assignments here if you wish to assess your marks."

"Dude, speak English," the blond rolled her eyes, although she was already on her feet and trekking towards his desk to get her paper back. "Not everyone is a super genius like me and understands big word – what the hell? How did I get a 'D' on this! I'm an 'A' student in history!" She glared at her teacher. "What are you playing at, Turner?"

"Merely showing you that your incoherent blather has carried over from your words into your school work."

"But I worked really hard on this! How did I go wrong? _Where_ did I go wrong?" she demanded.

"I'd have to say the second grade when you took that ride in the dryer."

"Yeah, but if it wasn't for that, my hair would still look like Max's!" she protested. "And that's beside the point! You know damn well that this is better than anything you can get out of the rest of this class –" she turned to the others, "– no offense guys – "

"Nah, none taken."

"No problem,"

"We're fine."

"– and you know that I know what I'm talking about! This is the first assignment of the year and it's one of my best works! The Renaissance philosophers are an easy subject for me, unless you want me to go into Utopia! I can do Utopia!"

"Sit down, Miss Mizuhara, I'm not changing your mark. You will just have to work harder on the next one."

"Well I'm not going to sit down until you change my mark, and there's nothing you can do about it!" she fumed, glaring at the old man.

Not ten minutes later, she had her answer.

"He did something about it," she growled to herself angrily. "I can't believe he actually did…and the water bucket punishment too."

She stood outside the classroom, alone, two full pails of water in her arms as she stood straight in front of the door. If anyone walked into the corridor at this moment, she would be sufficiently humiliated, she decided, remembering the last time she had served this very same punishment.

In fact, it had been Turner who had given her this punishment too, back when she had lived in New York. She had made the mistake of telling the amazing stories of living in Japan for a fraction of a year and it seemed the man had taken to this particular method of discipline better than any other one that he tended to use. And she'd have called it cruelty to children if she wasn't sure it would earn her another hour having to hold the stupid heavy pails in her arms and feel like they were slowly being ripped out of their sockets.

She heard footsteps echoing down the hallway, coming towards her, and she tensed, hoping against hope that whoever it was would decide to duck into a classroom or a side hall and not come down in her direction. She didn't have the energy to be stared at, considering it was being drawn out of her through the weight of the buckets in her hands.

Her hoping did nothing, however, when down the hall, the person turned the corner and walked towards her. She swallowed painfully when she made out the figure of Hiwatari, who was carrying a stack of papers in his arm and hadn't noticed her yet.

'Hopefully he'll just not look up and – '

The thought wasn't even finished before Hiwatari was looking up and met her gaze. A feeling of burning humiliation, much like the time month before when he had watched her dive into the school dumpster while attempting a skating trick, bubbled up inside of her.

The closer he came, the more she noticed his eyes looking her up and down, once in a while landing on the buckets of water with a question in his eyes, but without saying anything. She was tense an bracing herself, ignoring the pulling sensation and concentrating all her energy on Hiwatari.

As soon as he was walking right in front of her, she winced, awaiting the comment – which didn't come.

With one contemptuous look at her, Hiwatari passed her, not sparing her another glance.

Chaya blinked.

She was confused; her words escaped her lips before she was aware of them. "What, no snide remark?"

"What, you want one?" Hiwatari paused, and then, in movement that conveyed a feeling of immense effort, he turned around and looked her up and down, before smirking cruelly. "Why should I waste my breath on you?"

"You're doing it now," she pointed out, feeling a little smug. She had gotten him to rise to the bait, even though moments ago she had hoped he would just walk past her without commenting. She confused herself sometimes.

"You really need a life, Mizuhara," he told her, an almost weary tone tingeing the cold of his voice. "And possibly some mental help."

"What the hell is your problem?" she growled, considering just dropping the buckets because they were interfering with her thoughts.

"Look in the mirror and find out, kid, it's really no secret," he sent her a dismissive gesture and then turned again, continuing on his way. Fury bubbled up within her at the casual manner he was treating her in, once again angry at the older teenager's tendency to treat her as second class.

Without really thinking her actions through, she was already moving…

(-)

"Two detentions and classroom duty?" Ray whistled as they got off of the bus and started towards the movie theater that day after school. Chaya didn't answer, still glaring at the sidewalks angrily. "You know, I really hate to say it…but you've got to start controlling yourself."

"Yeah, yeah," she mumbled, shoving her hands in her pockets. "But it was worth it…sort of. You know, before the detentions." She grinned half-heartedly up at Ray. "The look on his face was completely priceless – and so was Turner's! I mean, I think he figured that at some point I'd douse at least one person with those buckets, but I think he thought is would be him…"

Although looking exasperated, Ray sighed and looked heavenward. "You're the strangest person I've ever met."

"I'd have to be strange to put up with you."

"Ha-ha," Ray rolled his eyes, reaching over and wheedling Chaya's hand out of her pocket and into his own hand, squeezing it affectionately. "But seriously, I think you should be careful. I don't think Clarkson's above reinstating that whole 'one indiscretion and you're expelled' rule that she put you under last year. That and Kai's been weird lately, almost like he's lost even more morals." Ray frowned. "I don't think you should test him so much."

"Really?" Chaya questioned, almost unable to keep the sudden cold note in her voice out of perceptibility. "And what would you suggest?"

"Well, when he starts being an ass you could just ignore him."

"Haven't you seen that I've been trying?" she replied, peering at the Chinese boy out of the corner of her eye as they walked through the doors of the cinema complex. "It's a lot harder than you just saying it."

"I know," Ray shrugged. "But also, I don't think you try that hard. I mean, you fly off at him in every situation. It's like you can't get past his taunts and you really shouldn't pay that much attention to him. He wins every time, you know?"

"I doubt he won today," Chaya deadpanned, now completely unable to get the irritation out of her voice at the fact that her boyfriend wasn't supporting her. She would have thought that out of everyone at least he would support her in her constant war with Hiwatari. Maybe it was just too much television on her part that was making her believe that he should be happy that she was holding her own against a particularly stubborn bully.

Ray seemed to sense her words. "Chays, you know I'm not insulting you, right? I just think maybe you should tone it down at little – act a little more like a girl than such a tomboy."

Chaya stopped walking completely, which caused her to pull Ray back as he was still holding her hand. Not for long, considering she pulled away from him forcefully, and glared. "What do you mean, act more like a girl?" Her voice rose, drawing the attention of a few people around them. "Act more like the submissive type that lets the opposite sex walk all over her? Or are you put off because I have the balls to challenge a stuck-up bully and you don't?"

"Chaya…" Ray began, looking around doubtfully, making a motion with his hand for her to be quiet. Her temper flared.

"No, Ray, I'm not going to be quiet," she snapped. "You're expecting me to follow the crowd and just ignore when Hiwatari treats me and my friends like something he just walked in. Ignoring the problem doesn't make it go away, just like if I ignore him he'll just keep at it. It's not my fault that he has an asshole for a grandfather that seems to think that I make him weak and not worth it – and it's not my fault that he's decided he's going to put it out on me and then the rest of the world – and if you think for one second that I'm going to stand there and take his abuse, you're wrong!"

"I-I'm not telling you to take his abuse," Ray protested, looking utterly confused by what was possessing his girlfriend. "I'm asking you, for your own safety, to lay off just a little. Instead of rising to his level, walk away. And instead of jumping at every invitation to fight with the guy, go see a teacher or someone. I don't want a repeat of last November –"

"And I do?" she cried. "Okay, Ray, I get it. You're worried about me. Well don't be. I can take care of myself. And if this is some kind of macho thing, just stop right there. If I need your help, I have no problem asking for it. Yes, I'm female, but that doesn't mean I'm weak and stupid. Maybe you should be giving this whole talk to Hiwatari, considering he's the one that's having issues."

Her tone was challenging, and she waited for Ray to come up with another argument. He looked as though he wanted to say something to her, but although she waited for it, he merely shook his head and looked skyward. "Look, forget it. You're obviously not going to listen to me."

"Damn straight."

"But I still think you're being immature and stubborn about this," he told her.

Her voice frosty, she told him, "You're entitled to your opinion."

He sent her another unimpressed look. For a long while, neither of them said anything to each other, as though testing the waters between them. As far as Chaya could remember, she'd never really gotten into an actual argument with Ray, especially not over the subject of Hiwatari.

Anger bubbled up inside her. Once again, despite his lack of presence, the arrogant senior was moving in on her personal life and ruining everything. Now he was even contaminating her boyfriend against her.

In silence the two of them paid for their movie, Chaya insisting on paying her own ticket, and strode towards the cinema. The movie itself was boring, and the tension walking home was almost unbearable.

* * *

Yes, Chaya's a brat. But guys, she's fifteen. She hasn't come out of that whole 'teenaged I'm right you're wrong' stage. At some point she'll actually get it. Just not at this moment… 

Alrighty, flip the button down there and go to the next page!

Byez,

Kuriness.


	6. Limb Boxer

**_Burning in the Sea_**

Author: KuriQuinn

Title: Burning in the Sea

Fandom: Bakuten Shoot Beyblade

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade, never will and have no intention of leading a crusade to try to own them. That's too much money and too much effort. However, I do like to manipulate the characters to do my bidding because it amuses me and countless others. This is the only disclaimer you will see in this fic, so if you decide to review me saying that I didn't give credit to the real person that came up with Beyblade (Aoki Takao) I will calmly tell you to go screw yourself. That is all.

Fanfiction Disclaimer: Chaya is my own creation, as is Haley, Jennifer, Claire and anyone else that you don't recognize. Miyami Kinomiya belongs to Mags, my best friend. Aurelia Delk belongs to Band-Freak aka Lobo-Chan. And that is all for now...Flash Jameson belongs to Flash, Iris Messana belongs to Iz

Rating: R for language, mature themes and mature humor

Pairing: Figure it out.

Takes-Place: Alternate Universe

Summary: When you live in small town, where everything and everyone is the same, what are you supposed to do? Why, wreak whatever hell you can, of course

**

* * *

Chapter Six: Limb Boxer **

Although they didn't speak again for three days, Ray apologized to Chaya on the fourth. Almost as though nothing had happened between the two of them, their relationship continued the way it always had. However, just because her school life was going well, didn't mean that it was equally easy for her at home.

Although her mother's pregnancy had not yet begun to outwardly show, her actions were enough to drive even Max insane. Almost the day after the discovery, Judy had made an appointment with an obstetrician and gone for an ultrasound to determine the baby's health and growth. At the same time, the men of the house seemed to be going baby-crazy. Although Chaya loved children and was looking forward to having a little sister or a brother, she hadn't gone as completely ga-ga as her brother and father.

Upon Chaya's return home from school one day she had found the living room stacked with books on pregnancy and her father reading it over with her mother. Judy seemed to feel that it was a waste to buy all the books considering they had been pregnant before, a thought which Chaya privately agreed with.

Judy's morning sickness and exhaustion was rankling Chaya's nerves. Because she didn't drink coffee any more her mother was a lot less docile than she had once (if ever) been. It was during these times that she decided to lecture Chaya on how she expected her to help out when the baby was born and how she would have to put family before social life. Chaya had to refrain from asking if her mother thought she was stupid.

And, as if this wasn't enough, the doggedness that her mother went on about Becky's wedding plans was enough to make Chaya want to leave home. She really didn't care about her sister's wedding plans and really didn't want to be a bridesmaid if she could help it.

"So…" Miyami began one afternoon a week later as the two of them walked down the hallway towards the cafeteria, fighting against the jostling other students. "Heard about that Swedish foreign minister that got stabbed while shopping?"

Chaya sent her friend an unimpressed look. "If that's your attempt at striking up a conversation, you're terrible."

"Hey, you obviously have something on your mind. I'm just trying to ask what it is without that whole awkward 'what's wrong?' line," her silver-eyed best friend said defensively. "So…what's wrong?"

"Nothing," Chaya replied, but when she saw her friend's skeptical look, she sighed. "Everything. Becky's stupid wedding, for one. I hate it and it hasn't even started yet."

"When is it?"

"This weekend. Reasons why I can't go to your place to get away from the Mother Terror of Hell."

"Ouch," Miyami sympathized, patting Chaya on the shoulder. "Well, look on the less dark side? You just have to go to this one and then it's over."

"Not so fast, man, I haven't gotten to the worst part," the blond girl moaned. "I'm one of the bride's maids, right? Well, Judy and Becky collaborated on what kind of outfits they're going to be and they went and picked out the dress –"

"Uh oh," the other girl echoed, a sense of foreboding in her voice.

"– and it's the worst thing ever. It's this horrible pink thing – and not the nice pink, but that dreary, washed out sick looking one and it has this pleated top and it's just…" She groaned. "I realty don't care what people think of the way I look – but if anyone I know ever saw me in that thing, I'd have to commit suicide."

"Well, then it's a good thing this wedding's in – where is it again?" Miriam asked.

" Oregon," Chaya yawned. "Becky and Antonio decided to move there and already have a down payment on their new house – we saw the pictures, it's got a freaking picket fence."

"Talk about the happy life – they're going to have two-point-five kids now, too?" Miyami asked, actually looking concerned. "Other than that, how goes the crisis at home?"

Chaya's expression cleared up and she grinned.

"It's all good. Even though it was Becky that turned Judy around to the idea, it looks like we're in for a new addition to the family. And there's an even better part," she grinned. "Judy went for the ultrasound a while ago and the results came back today."

"And?" her best friend asked excitedly.

In reply, Chaya, who had spotted the familiar form of the squat, gray-haired older man that was just coming out of the hole-in-the-wall teachers lounge. "Hey, Turner!"

"What is it now, Miss Tate," he rolled his eyes, as though talking to her was the last thing on his list of things to do for the day.

"I think you're going to have another Mizuhara to teach."

"Yeah, and maybe he'll have another kid like me to sit next to," Miyami added.

"_She_ won't have to," Chaya replied with a smirk.

"Why not?"

"Because you'll still be there, genius," she scoffed, before laughing. Miyami muttered something about being under appreciated.

"Oh, I look forward to it ever so much," Turner deadpanned before walking off. "Congratulations on the news, Miss Mizuhara."

"So it's a girl then?" the green-eyed teen asked once the two of them were alone without their teachers again.

"Yep. Third one. Ain't it great?"

"Some people might beg to differ," Miyami grumbled as they finally made it to the corridor leading to the cafeteria.

The doors were closed on the foul smelling room, but with one deft movement Chaya had kicked the door back, leaving passage enough for her and the other girl. The usual bunch was already seated at the table although another chair had been added to the usual capacity of eight.

"Oh yeah? Like who?"

"Well, I can think of a certain arrogant, insulting senior," Miyami wiggled her eyebrows in the direction of Kai Hiwatari's lunch table. Chaya sent her a meaningful glare, for once regretting her policy to tell her best friend everything that had occurred between her and Hiwatari, both the bad and the worse. In most cases the worse. "Although with the way I know you've been carrying on, maybe I'm wrong."

"Shut up Miyami."

"What's Miyami saying this time?" Tyson commented as the two girls finally came upon their lunch table and squished in among their friends to eat. Haley, Jennifer, Max, Johnny, Flash and Iris mumbled their greetings to the two girls. "Something stupid again?"

"Not really, Chaya just doesn't want to hear – "

"Shut up Miyami," she repeated, before aggressively asking her brother, who was opening up the container with their lunch, "What's for lunch today?"

"Your favorite," Max grumbled, looking sick at the thought, let alone the sight of what he opened up and passed to her. "Asparagus sandwich with mayo."

"Rock on!" she cheered, unwrapping her sandwich and biting into it.

"Oh, gross," Iris moaned, edging away from Chaya although she was already seated at the other end of the table. "How can you eat that! It's disgusting."

"I do believe we had this same conversation not a month ago," Flash pointed out, but when no one answered him, he shrugged and went back to stabbing at the container of left-over pasta, a thoughtful look on his face.

"My theory is because she's a loser," Johnny said easily. He noticed Chaya's face and winced, pretending to shield himself from a prospective blow to the head, but was among the surprised parties when she merely faced Miyami and asked, "Do you think I'm a loser?"

"Of course not," her friend replied loyally, picking the meat out of her own sandwich and passing it to Tyson, who greedily accepted it by stuffing it in his mouth.

"Do you think I'm cool?"

"Of course not."

The others burst out laughing as Chaya gave her best friend and unimpressed look before biting aggressively into her sandwich. They were really, really asking for it…

Bored, she looked around the room for Ray. She hadn't seen him all day, which either meant he was sick or…or something. She wasn't sure, because since they had started dating, whenever she looked for him, he was right next to her. Always. It was a little strange to not see him around. Was he possibly still angry about last week?

But he had apologized and said everything was alright.

But she hadn't.

Well, he was the one that had insulted her and…

He was only telling it how he saw it.

How _he _saw it, not the way she saw it, or experienced it.

What was she worried about, anyway? Wasn't that all in the past?

Everything would be fine. She was reading too much into it. Ray was probably talking to a teacher or something.

"…Hey Taryn! Want a tofu dog?" Jennifer offered loudly in Chaya's ear. With a sigh, she let herself return to the conversations going on all around her.

"I respect that you don't eat meat, please respect that I don't eat fake meat."

"Ooh, my stomach!" Tyson was groaning. "I feel like I ate a tire!"

"That's a distinct possibility," Iris murmured as she stabbed her wilted salad.

"Try this, it'll help. It's a remedy that's been in my family for years," Jennifer offered, digging in her backpack and bringing out a small package. Miyami rolled her eyes and swiped the thing, peering at it suspiciously.

"Best…used…before… Lincoln's…assassination," she squinted then looked at the redheaded girl. "You really expect me to let my cousin drink your poison tea leaves?"

"It's called Bancha tea!" Jennifer protested.

"Yeah, well it smells like a 'bancha' gym socks."

"Hey, you don't have to insult me."

"Yeah, lay off Yami," Haley joked, tossing a noodle from Flash's lunch at the silver haired girl. Miyami snorted, shaking her head, but then reached for a piece of bread and chucked it at Haley. For a long while the rest of the table watched in amusement as the two girls jokingly tossed food back and forth between each other, all the while looking out to see if Clarkson was lurking around.

Miyami overshot one of the carrot sticks and Chaya barely moved in time to miss the flying vegetable, leaning back into the island to avoid it.

Seconds later, her head collided with a very solid chest and there was a curse. Chaya winced, knowing that voice. She also knew that it was too much to ask the Goddess that Ray could possibly have a cold that would account for the deeper voice…

Once again, Kai Hiwatari was glaring down at her as though he would like nothing better than to hit her or forcibly move her out of his way somehow. She recalled that this was the first time they had come in direct contact since she had doused him over the head with water the week before.

At his arrogant look she straightened back into a sitting position as though giving him room to go by, opened her mouth to dish out a snide comment, at the same time catching sight of Ray walking into the cafeteria. The memory of their little tiff the week before echoed in her head and she realized maybe he was right about her jumping the gun.

Her friends watched her in heavy silence, waiting for the row to break out again. Swallowing her insult painfully and not looking at him, she cleared her throat and began quickly, "Sorry 'bout that Hiwatari. Haley and Miyami were just –"

"You should be."

She stopped once interrupted by the cold voice, whipping her head around to watch him leave. "Excuse me, what?"

He didn't turn around. "I said you should be."

"I heard you, thanks," she replied, feeling a red tinge of anger on her face at the precise moment she stood, her hands on her hips. "What gives? I'm trying to play the better party here and be civil so – "

"So that you can look good for your boyfriend, right?" he snorted, continuing to walk away. "Pathetic."

"Chays…let it go," Max mumbled from behind tight lips, but Chaya raised a hand to cut off her brother. She didn't know how Hiwatari knew about her argument with Ray – she didn't think she was that transparent or that he was on close speaking terms with Ray anymore. Then again, she wasn't really surprised because for some reason Hiwatari was never surprised when it came to her.

Either way… "No, I'm not letting it go. Hiwatari, do you think you could possibly not be an insulting prick for once?"

She could sense Ray coming forward and noticed that the noise of kids talking to each other in the cafeteria had gone down drastically, into almost a whisper. Once again, it seemed, she was at the center of attention. As if she really wanted this right now…

"Depends. Will you ever learn to shut up?"

"You're such a bastard."

"And you're an immature little runt, you don't see me complaining."

Chaya tightened her fists. "Listen, you jerk, if you're going to continue insulting me, you might as well turn around and say it to my face. Or are you afraid that might lead you to get in trouble with grand-daddy?"

There was a sharp intake of breath from their audience and a muffled curse from Taryn's direction, but Chaya ignored all of it. Miyami was standing up suddenly, standing between them as though to curb any unwanted attempts at violence. "Guys, calm down…there's no reason that we – "

Hiwatari had actually turned to face her, his eyes burning with the same anger and something else that made the more rational part of her want to back away. Finally, he bit out a silent, "Go to hell."

"After you," she replied simply. "I'm not going to let you think that force and violence scares me, Hiwatari."

"Fuck you."

"Asshole."

"Are you listening to me?" Miyami was yelling, waving her hands at them. "Calm down!" They ignored her, now straining past Miyami and facing each other as though they would attack one another. "Guys! Hey, would you fucking listen!"

When there was no reply, she angrily turned around, grabbed a glass water and whipped it at the two of them. Chaya squeaked when she felt the liquid seep through her clothes and cover her face and hair. There was a loud shout of laughter amid the rest of the school and she narrowed her eyes at her best friend.

"What the hell was that?"

"Well, you're listening to me now," Miyami pointed out, trying to sound joking about it.

Without replying, Chaya reached down and picked up a glob of mushroom surprise from Haley's plate and tossed it back at Miyami, who ducked. There was a loud splat which echoed despite the excited shouts of the other students, and she turned around, the color draining from her face.

"Ray…" she moaned, looking at her boyfriend in horror as he blinked the messy glop from his face. His slow entrance had been interrupted when Chaya's pitch hit him.

His face void of any emotion, he walked over, picked up a paper cup filled with some sort of putrid liquid that might have been juice in another life and chucked it at Chaya, who squeaked and ducked. The liquid slapped over Flash's back, and the blond boy stopped moving.

Now there was total silence in the cafeteria as he stood up.

And grinned.

"You're gonna regret that, Kon."

Before anyone knew it, the fight had started. Food was everywhere, in the air, on the floor. The goody-goody students hurried to take cover on the floor until they could escape the war zone that was the cafeteria and find a way to contact Clarkson, and Chaya too had ducked behind one of the overturned tables to keep from being hit by anything heavy and mushy. From her looking point, she watched as Flash and Ron laid into each other laughingly, using whatever food they could find. Max and Tyson were watching each others backs as they moved through the caf., and Haley, Jenn and Taryn were backed up near the serving area, using platters to keep the food from their faces.

A teacher once in a while came in and tried to restore order, but would leave when the chow was lobbed at them quite unceremoniously.

Chaya collected the hard, stale rolls that she had collected from all her friends' lunches to her. She looked out, trying to find somewhere to get out, when she was hit in the back of the head with something cold and wet.

Growling and wiping the jell-o from the back of her head, she glared over at Hiwatari, who was smirking at her ruefully at her.

"He throws a perfect six yard pass and hits a frigid bitch," he remarked coldly, his voice loud as though he were a commentator at a football game. "The crowd goes wild!"

"You could have chosen a nicer term of endearment," she snapped, flinging the rolls at him quickly, making him duck twice and wince when she managed to hit him on her third try.

"Why? There's nothing nice about you," he replied, waltzing over and grabbing a carton of milk. "Hey, Mizuhara, remember our wonderful first day last year?" Without waiting for her to reply, he poured the milk over her head.

"Jerk!" she snapped, hitting him over the head with a nearby tray. He reeled and then ducked as she went back at him again, managing to swing her around and pin her arms to her sides.

The cold, dangerous note in his voice made her shiver. "Hey, is that anyway to talk? Ladies aren't supposed to use that kind of language."

She felt like spitting in anger. "Oh, so what are we supposed to do, besides stay home and knit?"

He grinned at her. "…well…"

"You finish that sentence and I'll brain you, Hiwitari."

"Somehow I don't believe you."

She pried her arm free and tried to catch him with a left hook, but he caught it. "Now now, isn't that what started this entire thing in the first place? Your temper?"

"You sayin' this fight's my fault?

"Want me to say it again?"

"Hey!" Miyami yelled as she passed, lobbing the little containers of butter at Johnny's head. "If you guys are gonna fight, give us time to sell tickets!"

"Don't you even start Miyami!"

Once again Hiwatari had grabbed her around the middle and was trying to force her face downwards into a bowl of soup on one of the still upturned tables. She forced her head back, ironically trying to keep as close to him and as far away from the food as possible. His voice was still cold in her ear,"Well, even if you didn't start it, you're still going to get in trouble for it."

"Am not, you lying, filthy basta – "

"WHAT ON EARTH IS GOING ON HERE?"

Every single student visibly winced. Immediately, the food fight stopped, silence enveloping the large Dining Hall. The only voice with enough power to shatter the sounds of a food fight had just showed up.

Clarkson.

For a moment Chaya and Kai continued to struggle with each other, before she managed to pull free. She blinked, and then looked up, distancing herself from Kai. Seconds later, as though by afterthought, she had smacked him in the head.

"Ow, what was that for?" he demanded, as every head in the room turned to them.

"That's for saying 'I told you so'."

"But I didn't!"

"But you were gonna," she replied, before catching the look in Clarkson's eye and trudging off towards the beady woman's office once again.

* * *

Slightly bad and hurried chappy, but I hope you guys don't mind it. Love you loads, 

Kuriness


	7. Cyclone Dog

**_Burning in the Sea_**

Author: KuriQuinn

Title: Burning in the Sea

Fandom: Bakuten Shoot Beyblade

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade, never will and have no intention of leading a crusade to try to own them. That's too much money and too much effort. However, I do like to manipulate the characters to do my bidding because it amuses me and countless others. This is the only disclaimer you will see in this fic, so if you decide to review me saying that I didn't give credit to the real person that came up with Beyblade (Aoki Takao) I will calmly tell you to go screw yourself. That is all.

Fanfiction Disclaimer: Chaya is my own creation, as is Haley, Jennifer, Claire and anyone else that you don't recognize. Miyami Kinomiya belongs to Mags, my best friend. Aurelia Delk belongs to Band-Freak aka Lobo-Chan. And that is all for now...Flash Jameson belongs to Flash, Iris Messana belongs to Iz

Rating: R for language, mature themes and mature humor

Pairing: Figure it out.

Takes-Place: Alternate Universe

Summary: When you live in small town, where everything and everyone is the same, what are you supposed to do? Why, wreak whatever hell you can, of course

**

* * *

Chapter Seven: Cyclone Dog **

Early morning on Saturday found the Mizuhara family asleep in a hotel bedroom, all dead to the world as the sun peeked in through the cheap curtains that hung by the window. The night before the family had arrived at Klamath Falls International Airport a few minutes past midnight, been taxied to the hotel and promptly fell asleep. Even Chaya had been too tired to complain about the bad arrangements and had tumbled onto the uncomfortable bed without even bothering to take her clothes off.

The digital clock in the middle of the two beds showed the time of four-fifty-nine. Just as the minute hit the five o'clock mark, the telephone rang, its tinny noise making the nearest sleeper jump in surprise.

With a groggy curse, the youngest member of the room groped around the counter, trying to find the phone, which rang again after its usual pause. Finally able to wrap her fingers around the receiver, she pulled it over, ignoring the crash as it fell to the floor.

"What?"

"Morning, sunshine," her sisters cheerful voice said. "I hope I haven't woken you up."

"What are you, an insomniac?" the brown-eyed girl moaned. "Who calls at five in the – it's five in the _morning_? You idiot, we just got in four hours ago and you're calling us! Call back when we're awake you fr – " she felt an elbow collide with her side, " – ow!"

She glared at Max, who had leaned over his cot near the window just to jab her, but didn't say anything.

Her sister didn't seem to notice the murder evident in Chaya's tone. "Is Mom up?"

"Of course she's not up, she's been puking all night, do you really think she'd be awake this early?"

"Wow, you still aren't a morning person."

"And you still are."

"Hey, it's my wedding day, cut me some slack. And pass me to someone that can manage to do more than point and grunt in the morning."

"Screw you," she snapped, tossing the phone towards her parent's bed. It hit her father in the side and he grunted in annoyance. She went back to a drifting sleep, although she heard her mother pick up the phone and begin to talk. The voices were blurred through Chaya's sleep, but suddenly she heard a sharp intake of breath, then a loud exclamation of "What do you mean it's five!" and suddenly everyone was up.

(-)

"Chaya, sweetie, you've grown up so much since I last saw you – "

" – Look, she's her mother's daughter alright! She looks exactly like her – "

" – Except for her eyes – "

" – doesn't she look so much like Becky?"

"Oh, definitely – "

"Why don't you whining old bats leave her alone, you're suffocating her with your expensive perfumes," a voice rang out through the hotel corridor. Chaya turned in relief to the owner of the voice, this being a slightly hard endeavor considering her hair was what was currently being worked on. She hadn't been able to escape the prying, pinching fingers of her aunts and older cousins that morning, ever since her aunt Amanda, her mother's older sister had dragged her into the 'beautifying room'.

Craning her neck as much as she could be allowed, the teenager broke out into a broad grin.

"Gamma Yoshi!" she squealed, moving anyway to grab a passing peck on the cheek from her favorite grandmother.

"Chaya, don't move!" her aunt cried, wrenching her head back in place where she was curling it and spraying it within and inch of its life.

"Meh," she replied, before looking up through the mirror at her grandmother. "I didn't know you were coming!"

"And miss the wedding of that bubble-head?" the short old lady snorted. "Not likely…"

Chaya grinned at the mirror. She loved Gamma Yoshi. She was ten times more fun than Oma Rosenberg, her mother's mother. Yoshi was her father's mom, widowed shortly after her third-child's birth. She had come into a huge inheritance and now spent her time traveling from country to country, doing as much as she could find possible. She had trained in Formula 1 racing, gone swimming with the sharks, climbed Mount Everest and even gone down in a submarine to see the wreckage of the _Titanic_. Best of all, she couldn't stand Judy, and spoiled Max and Chaya within an inch of their lives.

"…besides, I have to smack your otosan upside the head for deciding to bring another kid in the world without my say-so," she said. Her expression was so amusing that Chaya laughed. Annoyance made her grandmother a funny looking creature. She was a short woman, at four-eleven, with iron gray hair and the brown eyes that Chaya had inherited. "Hey, has anyone seen the bride yet? Or is she deciding to sleep in?"

Chaya grinned, although she noticed that no one answered her grandmother. It was a well-known fact that Gamma Yoshi wasn't well-liked by Chaya's mother's side of the family. Her no-nonsense, sarcastic, outrageous attitude tended to put people off.

Not that Chaya cared, as she had precisely the same problem.

"She's probably managing something," Chaya shrugged, receiving a reprimand as the hot curling iron came in contact with her ear. "Ow!"

"Well stop moving," Aunt Amanda shrugged, pausing to push back her graying blond hair. "Oh, and Chaya, hon? The nose ring…it's leaving us for the ceremony. Just like all those earrings that I'm sure you parents know nothing about?"

"Says you, lady," Chaya grumbled, receiving a reprimand when she was poked with the iron again. "Hey, that's abuse!"

"What is?" her aunt said innocently, though Chaya saw the warning look in her eyes.

Chaya pouted.

"I feel like my vice-principal," she grumbled, referring to the gluttonous amounts of gel in her hair. "What's the big deal, anyway? It's just a wedding!"

"We'll remind you when your time comes," her father's younger sister Fei said, coming into the room, dragging her two daughters behind her. Hyun-Ai was fourteen years old, thin and athletic, with raven black hair and black eyes. The younger one, ten-year-old Izumi-Jung wore her brown hair in two long braids, and didn't look very impressed at the fact that she was wearing a dress. Chaya remembered all too well that her younger cousin was a tomboy.

"O-mo-ni," she grumbled, tugging away from her mother. "Why do I have to get my hair done? I hate getting my hair done! It takes so long and it _so_ boring! And then I look stupid anyhow!" (1)

"Shut up, Izumi," Hyun-Ai said, moving into the mirror so that she could fix her already coiffed hair. "You're such a baby sometimes." She caught sight of Chaya's nose. "Hey, did that hurt much?"

Chaya ignored her cousin.

"Yeah. Well I don't intend to get married," she snorted, answering her aunt's previous statement.

"Maybe you'll change your mind when you see the grooms' men," a taunting voice sniggered and Chaya glanced over at her least favorite cousin on her mother's side, Amelie Monroe. The blond, blue eyed teen was her mother's, cousin's daughter, but Chaya kept pretending that she was somehow not even related to the family. "Then again, someone as brutish as you probably swings for the other team."

"Oh, just you wait until I'm out of this chair, Am, you're dead," Chaya snarled, fighting against her aunt's hand as well as the hot iron.

"Not so fast, kiddo, you're not to fight one bit when you get into your dress," Aunt Amanda's seventeen-year-old daughter Sarah Kelly said. "The wedding's in not even three hours and you're still not remotely ready."

"Jahvoll, Mein Führer," Chaya mumbled under her breath, wincing as she waited for the reprimanding poke with the iron to come, although it never did. She looked up and saw Aunt Amanda smiling at her.

"We're done, sweetie, now go and put on your dress. It's in the room down the hall where the other girls are changing."

"You mean I actually have to go out in public like this?" the blond demanded, glaring at her crimped and styled hair which had been pulled to the back of her head. "No way!"

"GO!" her relatives yelled, and she pouted, glaring at Gamma Yoshi who winked at her.

All she was thankful for, was that her brother wasn't anywhere near –

"Hey Chay – Holy hell, what's that on your head, a dead possum?"

"Shut up, Max, or I'll give out baby-pictures to every single one of your future boyfriends," she threatened as she stomped down the hallways and into the room where the other girls were dressing. There were only two others that had been chosen from her family to be a bridesmaid, the other two were from the groom's family, two pretty Italian girls that were chatting with each other in rapid Italian. The blond didn't even bother trying to figure out what they were saying, but turned to her two cousins.

The first was a redhead with dark skin and eyes, and she slowly recognized her as her somthingth cousin, something times removed, Indiana Lanford. The second, a blond with gray eyes was from her father's side, from one of the German families, Krista Annaliese. Both of them were quiet as they looked at themselves in the mirror.

"So where's the hideous dress?" Chaya asked with a resigned air and the four girls looked up at her.

"Chaya! Long time no see," Krista grinned. "What took you so long? Sleeping in?"

"Just shut up and gimme the dress," Chaya grumbled. "I don't even know why I'm doing this."

"Hm, let me think…uh, she's your _sister_?" Indiana rolled her eyes.

"Rebecca is your sister?" one of the Italian girls asked, coming forward. "Wow. It's nice to meet you. We heard about you, but…"

"And you are?" Chaya asked, raising an eyebrow.

"We're Antonio's sisters," the other girl, older than the first, replied. "I'm Bianca, and that's my sister Evelina. It's nice to finally meet you."

"Whatever," the blond grumbled, grabbing the puffy pink dress and marching into the bathroom. She heard Krista behind her as she closed the door.

"You'll have to forgive her. She doesn't sleep much and she's expecting a brain in the mail any day now."

"Unfortunately, I doubt she'll be any better even then," Indiana added.

"I heard that!" Chaya yelled. "You'd better hope I don't kill you when I come out."

"You lack the capacity there, too," Krista commented.

"Oh, you're so asking for it…" Chaya snarled as she pulled up the dress over her pale frame and did it up. "Ugh, this is disgusting, look at it." She walked out, holding the skirt in a bunch so that she could fit through the door.

Her cousins and the other girls stared. When she noticed, she crossed her arms and raised her eyebrow. "What?"

"Stand absolutely still," Indiana whispered out of the corner of her mouth.

"What if it tracks by scent?" Krista replied fearfully.

"Ha-ha, very funny," Chaya snapped.

"Aah! It sees us! Run!" Indiana cried, hurrying to hide behind Krista.

Before she marched indignantly back into the bathroom, Chaya noticed with satisfaction the look of shock and unease on the other two girls faces. Heh. Mission scare Becky's inlaws? Accomplished…

(-)

The wedding site was a small inn near on the water, a tent already set up nearby. As she got out of the taxi, she looked out into the field behind the inn at all the people that were roaming about, settling into their places before the outdoors alter. Chaya smirked, remembering what Antonio's sisters had said about this. His family had been trying to get him to have the wedding in a Church, but he and Becky had decided on something outside.

"Chaya-Amelia, go inside. You're with the wedding party," her mother snapped. "Oh, and give Becky my love. We'll see you later."

"Gee, thanks for the support on this thing that I don't even want to do…" she muttered, following her cousins and soon to be sisters-in-law to the back of the inn and up the stairs.

"Chaya, no way can that be you."

She glared over at the source of the voice, recognizing her cousin Xavier, Indiana's younger brother, who was raising her eye brow at her.

"Shut up, Xav, or I'll pound ya," she grumbled.

"In that dress? Doubtful…"

The brown-eyed girl clenched her fists and then unclenched them. She was going to kill Becky for this insult…right after she got out of this dress, of course…

"Chaya-Amelia Rambrandt Mizuhara, is that you?"

There was only one person that ever used her entire name when she was being greeted, and Chaya looked up as she entered the door, a slight smile on her face when she saw the owner of it. "Aunt Amelia, how are you?"

Amelia Meier wasn't really her aunt. She was her mother's grandmother's sister, and the so-called Matriarch of the family. At eighty-five years old she was in pique condition, and crazy to boot. In fact, she got on extremely well with Gamma Yoshi, despite the family troubles…

"Wrinkly, but you didn't need to know that," the old woman barked. "I never dreamt I'd see you in a pink dress – well, except that time when you were two and all you wanted to wear was pink…right about the time you were potty-trained, I believe…"

"Do you have to go into that story whenever you see me?" Chaya moaned, looking around to make sure none of her cousins were listening in.

All of them were.

"I'll never forget that time when you actually fell into the toilet – "

"Come on, Aunty, gimme some dignity," she moaned. "I was two!"

"Then you're not young enough to be rid of me, isn't that right, William?" she laughed to her son, who sat nearby and chuckled in answer.

Chaya sighed and wandered through the people, trying to find her sister. It wasn't hard to do. All she had to do was find the biggest, puffiest, ugliest dress out of all of them and there she was.

"Chaya, honey, there you are!" her sister leaned over, away from her maid of honor and soon to be mother-in-law to place two big, fake kisses on her cheeks. "I haven't seen you since –"

"Two months ago, lay off," Chaya frowned, wiping the lipstick smudges from her face. "Look, is it time to go out there yet? I want to get this over with as fast as possible…"

"Well, still a brat," her sister sighed, standing up and looking at her with an air of having given up.

Unlike the other members of her family, Becky had taken after their father. Her skin was a little darker than her siblings, and she had long tresses of thick brown hair that always looked as though it had been coifed. Wide blue eyes, freckles that didn't obscure her face the way they did Chaya and two perfect dimples complemented her looks greatly. By most people's standards, she was the best looking out of the three Mizuhara children (that currently existed). She was tall and slim, her fingers and nose dainty. In contrast, Chaya was short and rosy, and still hadn't lost that baby-fat around her stomach, although she was getting there with all of the kick-boxing she attempted to practice on her friends when they annoyed her.

"Rebecca, dear, Jacques was just thinking that the photographs would be best taken out by the docs on the lake. It would be _so_ romantic," Mrs. Giordano interrupted as though Chaya didn't exist, and the blond girl took an instant dislike to her.

"I guess so," Becky giggled. "But we'll discus that after the wedding."

She turned to Chaya again.

"Can you believe I'm getting married?" she squealed. Chaya didn't miss the less than subtle gesture as her sister put a protective hand on her stomach.

"Unbelievable, can we hurry up now?" was the grumbled reply.

"We're just trying to find the flower girl," her older sister chatted. "It's cousin Riley's little sister, Brooke. I think she's run off chasing butterflies again. Oh, and sweetie? I meant to ask you if you could watch her during the ceremony, to make sure she doesn't run off. Thanks."

"But I don't want – "

"Here she is," Indiana announced, carrying in the four-year-old in a beautiful, white gauzy dress, who was straining to get back outside. "She was just about to run into the field…"

"Couldn't have that now, could we?" Becky tittered. "Alright, Chaya, take her and go. We have to start the procession!"

"But I – "

"Have fun!" Krista said brightly.

Chaya let out a growl of annoyance and took the little girl by the hand, leading her down the steps of the inn. In the time that she had been inside, the mat had been laid out and the music had started to play and the guests had been seated. Brooke tugged at her hand, but she ignored her, stepping down the stairs quickly.

She could hear the procession behind her and the music became louder. Beside her, Brooke skipped cheerfully, probably searching out another butterfly. Looking around, she studied the gathering. She was amazed to find that Antonio's family outnumbered hers by almost half. This was saying something, considering with all of her Jewish roots she was surprised they hadn't had to rent a whole new field…then again, Antonio's family was Italian, and they said enough…

Up ahead, the reverend stood beneath the flower-draped arch, holding the bible in his hands. The groom, a good-looking man of average height stood near the reverend, looking a little nervous but happy at the same time. Two others stood beside him, the best man, who was a tall, good looking young man with dark hair and familiar eyes, and next to him was –

Chaya choked, unable to believe what she was seeing.

Standing up next to the best man, staring at her in as much disbelief as she was sending his way, was Kai Hiwatari.

* * *

(1) O-mo-ni: mother, _Korean_. A branch of Chaya's family is Korean

* * *

Alrighty, may this be acceptable to all you readers. And feel special that I'm not leaving this as a cliffy like I had originally wanted to. So what are you waiting for? Get on until the next chappy! 

Kuriness


	8. Twidlee Dum

**_Burning in the Sea_**

Author: KuriQuinn

Title: Burning in the Sea

Fandom: Bakuten Shoot Beyblade

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade, never will and have no intention of leading a crusade to try to own them. That's too much money and too much effort. However, I do like to manipulate the characters to do my bidding because it amuses me and countless others. This is the only disclaimer you will see in this fic, so if you decide to review me saying that I didn't give credit to the real person that came up with Beyblade (Aoki Takao) I will calmly tell you to go screw yourself. That is all.

Fanfiction Disclaimer: Chaya is my own creation, as is Haley, Jennifer, Claire and anyone else that you don't recognize. Miyami Kinomiya belongs to Mags, my best friend. Aurelia Delk belongs to Band-Freak aka Lobo-Chan. And that is all for now...Flash Jameson belongs to Flash, Iris Messana belongs to Iz

Rating: R for language, mature themes and mature humor

Pairing: Figure it out.

Takes-Place: Alternate Universe

Summary: When you live in small town, where everything and everyone is the same, what are you supposed to do? Why, wreak whatever hell you can, of course

**

* * *

Chapter Eight: Twiddlee Dum **

The entire wedding went by in a daze for Chaya, who numbly kept Brooke from running off after her part was played. She didn't hear a word of the ceremony, didn't notice any of the people looking at her and didn't even glare about like she had thought she would be doing. All she did was glance over at the slate-haired teen, who after the initial reaction, kept his face stone-like, staring out at the crowd gathered before them.

What the hell was Hiwitari doing here? She demanded of herself, as the ceremony came to a close. It didn't make sense! Unless she had bad karma left over from another life, which wasn't too far from what she was beginning to believe!

Someone near her cleared their throat and Chaya looked up at Becky. Her sister was motioning impatiently for her to begin leading the procession back up to the inn, and she realized that the wedding was finally over.

With an annoyed shrug, she tightened her grip on Brooke's hand and led her back, ignoring the beginnings of the girl's whining. People were clapping as they passed, and the blond felt ire creep into her mood. Thank the Goddess it was over and she wouldn't have to go through it again…ever…

"Chaya, wait, honey, you can't leave yet, we still have to get the pictures taken," Becky said, and Chaya looked back in annoyance to see her sister holding on to her new husband's hands happily, forgetting her just as easy.

"I'm _not_ a honey," Chaya sneered, knowing her sister wasn't listening.

"Well, I won't argue with you there," Hiwatari's quiet voice said as he appeared with the best man. In the distance, the other guests were standing and getting out of their seats, wandering over to the tent which had been set up.

"Yeah, well I wasn't asking you," she shot back. "What the hell are you doing here, anyway?"

"I would have asked the same, if I didn't figure it out myself," he replied, picking a speck of dirt off of his tux before looking down at her impassively. "So you're Rebecca's little sister. Never would have guessed. You two look nothing alike."

"That still doesn't tell me what _you're_ doing here," she pointed out.

"It's not by choice, let me tell you that. My grandfather was most adamant that I take up the offer of best man's lap dog." the seventeen-year-old replied airily. "I didn't know that Vaughn was the best man to your sister's boytoy, though."

"Vaughn?" she replied, not remembering who he was, although the name was familiar.

"That would be me," the young man that had been next to Kai said, bending over and taking her hand to place a kiss on the back of it. "I'm Kai's older brother, charmed to make the acquaintance of such a beautiful young lady."

Kai coughed.

"You're going to have to disinfect your lips now, Vaughn," he commented dryly. Chaya lost her wan smile and glared at Kai. "And it's _half-_brother, you moron."

Now that he was close up, Chaya realized that he and Kai did look extremely similar. It was definitely the crimson eyes and high-cheekbones, but then again, Vaughn also had the slate-colored hair, a darker color. He was about twenty-six, and lacked Kai's height. The younger was already nearly taller than his brother.

"Well, this proves that you really are a reject of your gene-pool," she told Kai seriously, smirking at the frown on his face.

"Kai, you're being rude again," Vaughn chided, his voice taking on an annoying quality as well as a patronizing tone. "Haven't you been taught how to make introductions?"

"Yes, I have," Kai replied through gritted teeth. "Not that _she_ merits one."

"I'm Chaya Mizuhara," the blond interrupted, crossing her arms and jutting her chin out at the older version of Hiwatari challengingly. She noticed almost right away that his pleasant demeanor changed. She half-expected him to take on a cold stance the same way his brother did, but he merely fixed her in a cold, oily smile.

"The infamous dumb blond that is ruining Kai's chances of rising to a favorable level on the employment hierarchy?" his words were meant to be insulting despite his overt attempt at disguising them.

Chaya glanced at Kai for a moment of disbelief as though asking him if his brother was for real, and when he barely shrugged in response she turned back to Vaughn and sized him up in a very showing manner. It was no wonder that Taryn and Kai hated this jerk.

"Dude? He's seventeen. He doesn't care about employment hierarchy so much as when the next rock concert is happening," she told Vaughn plainly. "I don't get what's with you ass-kissing types – you, Becky and Antonio, you're all the same. You're rushing as fast as you can to grow up and join the rat-race, and by the time you're the age of your decrepit old grandfather, you're going to be as miserable and as spiteful as he is, regretting everything." Vaughn's eyes gleamed angrily at her, having obviously never been spoken to in this fashion. Chaya cut him off, "So, that being said, why don't you leave me alone, never talk to me again, and go chat up that 'dumb blond' that's sitting getting drunk in the tent over there?" She smiled brightly and waved farewell to him, before yanking Kai off with her in another direction.

When they were about twenty feet away from his brother and ought of sight, she pulled away and jabbed a finger at his chest. "For the record, that never happened. And if you tell anyone, even you're asshole friend Tala, you'll be stuffed into Clarkson's new desk so fast you won't have a time to say ouch." Hiwatari frowned at her, pretending to brush off his suit where she had touched it. Far too used to this to comment on it, she asked, "So if you two are here, where's Taryn?"

"She got out of this stupid thing because she decided to stay at Miyami's house," the senior shrugged. "And I hadn't thought that this weekend could get any worse…but it looks like I was wrong."

Chaya opened her mouth to comment, but was cut off as the hubbub started all around when the photographer arrived, herding everyone in the wedding party together. Chaya felt like a sheep as the pudgy man pushed and prodded everyone to get them into the position he wanted them in.

"Move in this way – no, over here you – the bride and groom in the middle – here, hold her hand and lean it – you two, over here –" Chaya suddenly found herself, to her utter horror, being herded into the fold, pressed right up next to Kai, who was mumbling a curse at him under his breath. The photographer, a squat little man in a tux, arranged Kai's hands so that he was wrapping them around her waist.

"Get off," she hissed after he left, but was cut off by a reprimanding look from her sister, and frowned in return. The basic message had been: ruin my wedding pictures and I'll ruin your life. She didn't want to have to put up with Becky more than she already did.

"I would," he replied, his breath brushing past her ear. "But I think your big sis would kill me."

"I'll kill you in a second –" she began out of the corner of her mouth, but he cut her off again.

"I'm actually a little amazed. You make that hideous dress actually look presentable."

She tried to think of something to say to that. She really did. But her brain just wasn't functioning. Had that earthen slime ball Hiwatari actually said something nice to her, without having been beaten senseless and into delusions? Not that she should be this confused about it, considering what had happened last summer…speaking of that, she still didn't understand why he did that.

And was it just her, or did the annoying jerk seem to be everywhere she looked lately? It was like a universal plan to piss her off, and it was definitely working.

Even if…

'No, you will not even go there,' she told the nagging, annoying voice at the back of her head. She's read about this voice in many novels and many fanfics that she had seen on the internet. It always seemed to pop in at the most inopportune moments and make the owner do many stupid things to make them seem like they were crazy. She had a feeling that this was no exception.

'You've got a thing for him.'

See? There it was. The clichéd voice of impending doom and reason. Why couldn't she be born without it?

'Are you nuts?'

'I'm not the one talking to myself, now am I?'

'I'm not talking, I'm thinking. And for that matter, _no I'm_ _not!' _

"Chaya!" She looked up to see her sister glaring at her and her cheeks turned pink. "You're screwing up the photos, now will you smile!"

She didn't bother replying, but turned towards the photographer and allowed the phony smile appear on her face.

"Yeah, Mizuhara, smile," Kai whispered. "Wouldn't want to ruin the only visual memories of you in that dress…I can't wait to show these things around school…"

'The first thing I'm going to do when I'm elected Supreme Ruler of the World,' she decided grimly as the photographer made them change positions again, pairing off the bridesmaids and groomsmen for dual photos, 'is to decapitate all males that act like total pricks. And then I'm going to send off the bodies of teenaged boys that act like asshole flirts to the trash compactors…'

"You two now," and they were being pushed together again, the flashes from the camera making her blink as she tried to figure out how she had gotten into this predicament. "That's great. Next!"

"Is that it? Are we done?" she asked, wrenching herself away from the older teen, who smirked at her. He looked like the epitome of a rich, well-cultured young man in his tuxedo, and if she hadn't known him better, she'd have believed it.

"Yes, you can go be a savage again," Becky rolled her eyes. "Antonio and I are getting our photos taken now. So go. And make sure to keep out of trouble, alright?"

"Bite me," Chaya replied, marching off towards the tent, intent on getting something to drink – even if it wasn't alcoholic, something with chocolate in it would be nice.

(-)

"Well, well, look who it is…"

"What are you doing here, Hiwitari?" she snapped, glaring out from behind the tree she had spent most of the afternoon hiding behind. Now that she noticed, he looked a little ticked off, every once in a while glowering back towards the tent.

"Don't really know. Don't really care either. But bothering you right now seems pretty entertaining to me," he replied after a moment, looking down his nose at her.

"Creative, Hiwitari. You're rather talkative today."

"Must be the weather. It's driving me mad."

She raised an eyebrow at him.

He lost the smirk and looked at her with blatant seriousness and annoyance. "Look, what I'm about to say will sound stupid and completely insane – trust me, I'd rather swallow a hot poker – but since my grandfather found out from Vaughn that you're here he wants me to do a little diplomatic act and ask you to dance."

It was the most pathetic thing that Chaya had ever heard, both in general and coming from Hiwatari's lips. But when she stared at him as though he had six heads, she noticed that his eyes were as serious as they ever got, as well as angry.

But it didn't stop her hating him. Snorting and rolling her eyes skyward, she mumbled, "Let's be clear. The brain damage happened _before_ I hit you."

"I'm not insane, loser, I'm serious."

"Drop dead. There's no way I'm going to do that, even if your grandfather wants me to."

"Actually, your parents seemed pretty ready to agree," he replied bitterly. "They're pissed because you haven't exactly been the best bridesmaid today. They're somewhat right there. You suck."

She stood up, facing him with a glare.

"That's the weakest insult you've ever given me."

"Looks like it got a rise out of you."

She clenched her fists.

"Even if I remotely considered the thought of coming within ten inches of you, I wouldn't," she told him pointedly. "My brother is still around and if he sees it, he'll have blackmail, especially if he takes a picture of it."

"You saying your afraid?"

Her eyes narrowed. She was going to kill this stupid, arrogant…guy! In her own head, she was killing him in as many ways she could think of. First she was poisoning him, then she was burning him at the stake, then she was hanging him, then she was drowning him…

"Bring it, asshole," she snapped. "And if you step on my feet, I'm throwing you into the wedding cake."

It turned out that Chaya was the one that kept stepping on Kai's feet. But for some reason he didn't say anything about it, just smirked at her in that annoying, wannabe superior way. She tried to ignore him, by looking at the other guests settled into their chairs, but their gesturing and comments about how cute she looked and how much fun she seemed to be having.

Right. Were her relatives blind or something?

Over in the corner, her sister and brother-in-law were gazing at each other star-eyed, every once in a while leaning in to give each other the most revolting looking kisses.

It's disgusting, Chaya thought grimly. 'Making out's okay, sure, but being all openly gross and disgusting? I hope I never get that way. And if I do, may my future husband have the decency to snap me out of that.

"Hey, Mizuhara, wake up," Kai snapped his fingers. "You looked like you were about to fall asleep and start drooling on my shoulder."

"The day that happens I'll propose marriage, Hiwitari," she replied, taking her threat from her surroundings.

"I'll hold you too that," he smirked. Something about that smirk unnerved her and for a moment she paused. The lapse was long enough to cause her to trip, falling over the hem of her skirt and his feet. He caught her before anything else happened, however where he caught her was what made her disregard his kind gesture.

An unwelcome warmth on her backside made her glare up at him, and the moment she had gathered her wits about her again, she had pushed him backwards, watching dispassionately as he careened into the desert table and crashed into the wedding cake, which in all of its layered glory, collapsed inwardly onto his immaculate form.

The music stopped abruptly, as did any of the talking. She could hear outraged shouts from the families of the bride and the groom and refrained from looking for her family's faces among them. Kai stood up with a glare, trying to regain whatever dignity he had. When this didn't work, he merely sighed, as though something was inevitable, and walked right over to her. Before she had anything to say about the matter, or could get away, he had picked her up and hefted her over his shoulder.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, you etiquette challenged he-man?" she demanded, over the breaking out of hubbub and scattered laughter. She noticed her mother and father hiding their faces, while Max just watched in amusement. Becky and Antonio looked on in horror, while all of her cousins and other relatives smirked and pointed. "You're getting cake all over this sodding dress! Hiwatari put me down!"

"Okay," was his smart-ass reply and suddenly she was sailing downwards.

She didn't hit the ground.

She fell into the lake.

Sputtering as she came up, she analyzed her situation, snarling as the cold water enveloped her. Evidently, he had carried her to the dock and dropped her in…well, he wouldn't get away with that, no matter how much he was smirking about it.

"H-Hiwitari you…ass-s-s," she stuttered, her teeth chattering as she bobbed in the water. She went under suddenly, before thrashing upwards, clawing at the water to remain afloat. "You stupi – " She cut off as her head went under water again.

"You're a horrible actress, Mizuhara," he told her dispassionately, turning to leave.

She fought to stay afloat, kicking with her legs and arms to catch hold of something solid that would keep her up.

He paused, looking back at her from the dock, almost doubtful when he noticed that she actually seemed to be having trouble. Behind them, in the tent, people were hurrying over to the two of them.

"Oh come on I know you can swim," he said, although he seemed a little doubtful.

"I can," she choked as she fell beneath the water again. "But this dress…it's –" she went under again.

When she came up, he had bent down and was holding his icing-caked hand out. Without a second thought, she reached out and grasped onto it, before yanking it as hard as she could.

With a yell and a splash, the older student of Bethany High was floundering right next to her, glaring through the soggy, cake-pasted icing on his face. She grinned back, now having absolutely no trouble treading water now. Her feet barely touched the bottom of the lake, but she didn't mind.

There was absolutely no way that she'd be forgetting Becky's wedding in a hurry…

* * *

MWAHAHAHAHAHA! A new chappy! Yay! Kuri Happy---actually, Kuri needs sleep, so she's going to go do her homework and than collapse onto her bed, 

Ciao! R & R!

Kuriness


	9. Thief Bait

**_Burning in the Sea_**

Author: KuriQuinn

Title: Burning in the Sea

Fandom: Bakuten Shoot Beyblade

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade, never will and have no intention of leading a crusade to try to own them. That's too much money and too much effort. However, I do like to manipulate the characters to do my bidding because it amuses me and countless others. This is the only disclaimer you will see in this fic, so if you decide to review me saying that I didn't give credit to the real person that came up with Beyblade (Aoki Takao) I will calmly tell you to go screw yourself. That is all.

Fanfiction Disclaimer: Chaya is my own creation, as is Haley, Jennifer, Claire and anyone else that you don't recognize. Miyami Kinomiya belongs to Mags, my best friend. Aurelia Delk belongs to Band-Freak aka Lobo-Chan. And that is all for now...Flash Jameson belongs to Flash, Iris Messana belongs to Iz

Rating: R for language, mature themes and mature humor

Pairing: Figure it out.

Takes-Place: Alternate Universe

Summary: When you live in small town, where everything and everyone is the same, what are you supposed to do? Why, wreak whatever hell you can, of course

**

* * *

Chapter Nine: Thief Bait **

The halls of Bethany High School were silent as the day slowly came to a close. It was fifteen minutes until the bell signifying the end of the day rang, and the students were all entertaining the thoughts in their minds about that they would do first when they escaped the hell-hole that was school on the gloriously hated Monday afternoon.

THOOM!

The sudden explosion, therefore, scattered all the thoughts of wanting to escape school and the sudden need to discover the origin of the noise was instilled in each person within the school's drab walls. From the sudden thundering gush of water from the direction of the boys bathroom on the second floor, and the trail of leaking water from beneath the door, it didn't take long for the staff and students to pinpoint the source of the disruption. It took but a few moments for the people within the various classrooms nearby to take interest in what was going on, and a few colorful words later, the majority of the second floor classes were gathered outside of the bathroom, the teachers holding back the other students as Mr. Turner strutted down the stairs to find the janitor.

In his absence, the door swung open, torrents of water gushing down to meet the students who shouted loud exclamations as they tried to step back to avoid it. A lone figure appeared from in the bathroom, drenched from head to foot with a look of shock on her face.

"Chaya Mizuhara, what do you think you're doing?" one of the teachers demanded, glaring at her over the top of his glasses.

"Uh…drowning, sir?" she replied, still a little surprised at the turn of events. Why was it that every time she thought she had a good idea, it was after she had done it and it failed that she realized that it was a bad idea?

"Where's the fire!" yelled a loud, bull-horn voice accompanied by the loud claps of heels against the waxed floors. "What happened? Is anyone hurt – oh, it's you." Clarkson's fake worry disappeared faster than it had probably taken her to manufacture it. "What have you done this time, Chaya-Amelia?"

"It wasn't me this time!"

"Of course not," the vice principle's voice was heavily sarcastic. Behind her, Jackson appeared with a tool-kit, mop and bucket, before looking her over.

"You hurt?" he asked gruffly.

She looked up pleadingly. "If I say yes, can I go home?"

"No!" Clarkson interrupted. "You march yourself down to my office, young lady, and make sure that you don't drip all over my carpet!"

"But this time it wasn't me!" Chaya yelled, flailing her arms so much that she started to get the bystanders wet. "How is it fair that I get in trouble without the proof!"

"GO!"

With a few well-chosen curses, she grumbled off, her boots making wet, slapping noise as the walked through the hall and down the stairs. Hiwatari's band of jerkwad friends smirked at her as she past, while he ignored her gaze as had become usual since Becky's wedding a month ago. She leered at Tala, who was standing next to him.

"Say one word and you'll all be eating out of tubes for prom," she snapped, stalking past even though she knew perfectly well that her exit was pretty much ruined by the squelching noise her boots were making against the floor. She didn't wait for anyone to respond as she disappeared into Clarkson's office, annoyed that her prank hadn't worked out like she had wanted it to.

(-)

"So…it's just another day in the life, huh?" Taryn smirked as she looked up at her friend. The two of them were lying outside on the asphalt in a remote corner of the school where it was still sunny, watching Miyami, Johnny and Ray play soccer. "What were you trying to do this time?"

"I was trying to set a pressure bomb in the toilets and urinals to blow up, but I wasn't careful enough and it practically blew up in my face. I'm just lucky that I hid under the sink before anything happened," the blond said hotly as she poked the ground vindictively with a stick. "Memo to self: never use any chemicals that I don't know the properties of anymore."

"Gee, you think?" the girl with the cropped purple and black hair snorted. "But hey, here's some good news for you. Clarkson tripped down de stairs on all that water you spilled and she broke her arm."

"She broke her arm from falling down the stairs?" Chaya gaped.

"Nyet, she broke her arm because when one of the teachers went to help her up, he wrenched it the wrong way…then again, I don't think it had to do with the wrenching so much as the weight of her bulk…"

"Hear-hear," the brown-eyed girl chuckled.

"Hey, Spaz."

The two girls looked up curiously, before both of their looks changed to dislike as they saw Hiwatari standing over them. He looked like he would rather be somewhere else, but still managed a harried glare at them both.

"What do you want, Hiwatari?" Chaya demanded, debating about whether she should stand up just in case he decided to step on her.

He didn't answer her, peering at his sister as though Chaya wasn't right next to her. "Taryn, can I talk to you."

"What do you want?" the younger Hiwitari asked, echoing Chaya's question. "And why are you acting so civilly, eh?"

"Do I need a reason to be nice to my sister?" he replied, then paused. He coughed. "Did that sound as fake to you as it did to me?"

"Worse," Chaya grumbled out. She was still more than annoyed at having seen Kai on the one weekend she had been sure to be rid of him. All it ever seemed to be was her seeing him. He was everywhere, and she hated it.

Mostly because every time she laid eyes on the arrogant, smart-ass senior, she found herself thinking unwilling back to that stolen kiss in the hallway the year before. And she remembered even more vividly how she hadn't even reacted to stop him until she had heard someone coming up behind them.

If it hadn't been for Ray, she thought angrily, I would have continued to kiss that piece of ass-tissue. And I don't even know why.

"No one was talking to you, Mizuhara," the slate-haired teen snapped. "And what's with you, anyway, you look like you just ate a hot pepper."

Her face turned an even darker shade of red and she shot back a swift 'Bite me', which he ignored.

"Well…spit it out, what do you want," Taryn asked coolly, sitting up and facing her brother. The two of them glared at each other in silence for a moment, and for the second time since she had met them, Chaya noticed immediately the similarities between the siblings. If she hadn't known any better, she would have thought that Kai and Taryn shared the same twinness that Chaya shared with Max. What always amused her about the two of them together were that both of them had glares that could strip the paint from a wall, but neither seemed affected by the other. Even Chaya could barely withstand the glares Hiwatari sent her every so often.

Kai seemed to have lost, because he looked away from his sister and bit out, "I need money. Voltaire cut my allowance again."

"What, buying smokes again?" Chaya smirked, earning an exasperated look from Taryn and a snarl from her brother.

"Stay the hell out of this, Mizuhara, it's none of your damn business."

"Then what do you need money for?" Taryn asked.

He looked a little pale suddenly and somewhat nervous. "It's a gift."

"Since when do you get gifts for people?" Taryn raised her eyebrow.

"Since I feel like it, are young going to give me money or not?"

"What'll you do for me if I do?"

Her brother's eyes darkened and he glared at her. In a loud, annoyed voice he shouted something at her in Russian and marched off. Taryn laughed at him and settled back down near Chaya.

"Nice to know that he hasn't lost all of his culture," she sniggered. "Come to think of it, that's the only Russian I've ever heard him speak."

"What'd he say?"

"'Fuck you.'"

"Hey, lay off, I was just asking what he – "

"That's what he said. 'Fuck you'," Taryn rolled her eyes. "Honestly, sometimes I think he needs to go in for brain correctional surgery or something. One minute he's being slightly normal, the next he's like a rabid dog."

"Tar? Stop with the visuals, they're disturbing," Chaya grinned at her friend, and then frowned. "Hey, that reminds me of something I wanted to ask you…Why are you so diehard Russian and he's not? Aside from the part that he's society's trash? I mean, you've got that whole hot Dracula accent and he…sounds like a Texas reject."

"Well, I vas raised in Russia. Grandfather sent me to a boarding school there because his mentality was that he had no use for girls. He figured I should just be educated and then get a good job in Russia and find a husband," Taryn explained as she lay back down on the asphalt again. Her voice sounded a little guarded and Chaya thought warily that it obviously wasn't just their looks that she and Kai were similar in, but in their dislike of opening up about their family life. "Kai and Vaughn, on the other hand, can easily take over his research company. So Vaughn and Kai were sent to some snooty boys' private school."

"And?"

"And Vaugh graduated top of his class, valedictorian and president of the alumni association," her Russian friend shrugged. "Kai hated it there so much that he flunked out and got sent here three years ago. I heard about this and figured I'd try it and Grandfather had no choice but to bring me home."

"So, like brother like sister"

"Tja, sure. Except my brother has no off-switch."

"Ain't it the truth?" Chaya shifted so that she was now leaning back on her palms.

"So, have you decided what you're gonna do for Austria? I mean, you're leaving Friday, right?"

"Right. And I've decided that I'm gonna become CARP when I'm there," the blond smirked.

The crimson eyed girl stared at her. "Did you just say carp?"

"Yeah. It stands for 'Cool And Radically Popular'," she said, sounding proud of herself.

"Well…it's a good thing that you don't want to be 'Cool Rich And Popular."

Chaya blinked.

"Why?"

Taryn shook her head.

"Never mind…"

(-)

"Chaya, are you packed yet?" her mother demanded as she peeked in to the room, narrowing her eyes at her daughter, who was lying on her stomach on her bed, stroking her cat between the ears.

"Sorta."

"'Sorta'?" her mother repeated, her blue eyes annoyed. It was obvious from her drawn tone and the irritated glint in her eyes that she had been sick all day, something she, as well as the rest of the household was far from enjoying. At twelve-weeks, Judy's pregnancy was finally beginning to show with the tiny yet noticeable bulge of her stomach. Thankfully, Chaya thought to herself, feeling that voicing anything would cause her more trouble than she needed, the first trimester was almost up, which meant her mother wouldn't be so touchy and weary in the future. "What does that mean? How much have you done?"

"Um…nothing?"

"Chaya!" her mother groaned, about to say something, and then refraining, as though it was a lost cause. "Look, don't come crying to me when you're late for your plane because you didn't pack on time, that's all I have to say to you…"

And she stalked out. Chaya glared at the doorway.

"What, no 'be careful?' or 'I hope your plane doesn't get hijacked'!" she yelled at the open space, knowing that her mother hadn't heard her through her own slammed door. "Ugh, have I left yet?"

"Nope," a voice behind her said, and she jumped, looking around. Harry screeched and dove beneath the bunk-bed while she looked up at the teenager climbing through her window. "But I think she's right, you should start to pack. You know, considering you have to figure out the dynamics of the suitcase so that you can bring us all back some chocolate…"

"Nice to know that's all you care about," the blond snorted at her best friend, but actually went to close the door to her room. "So…why exactly are you breaking into my room?"

"Because I felt like doing something different and not running into your parents?"

"Good point."

She stood up and waded through the mess of hers and Max's room, grabbing a few things and carrying them over to the suitcase that was left in the middle of the way. Behind her, Miyami dug out a crossword puzzle from the mess and began to work on it.

"So, excited?"

"To get the hell outta here? Damn straight."

Miyami looked up at her friend in a pretentiously hurt way.

"Oh don't worry, I'll still miss you and the other guys," the brown-eyed girl laughed. "How could I not? You're like parasites, you don't go away…"

"Ouch," her silver-haired friend said, putting her hand over the right side of her chest and pretending to wince. "You got me…ow! My heart, my heart!"

"Other side, Yams…"

Her best friend frowned, looked down, then grinned and changed sides so that her hands were now more towards the left.

"Heh heh…heh?"

Chaya rolled her eyes and went to sit back on the bunk-bed again.

"Dad's already given me the 'no fireworks in the suitcase' speech," she explained. "And Max told me not to start another war…and Ray told me that I'm not allowed to yell at people when they talk to me as though I don't understand them. You got anything to say?"

"Uh…how do you spell 'handsome'?"

Chaya face-faulted and looked over to Miyami, who was ignoring her and working on the crossword. Then she laughed and shook her head.

"J-O-H-N-N-Y-D-E-P-P."

"Nah, that's too long," her silver-eyed friend said, even though she looked up and grinned. "Dude, what's wrong? You nervous or something?"

"'Course not. I just don't want things to change around here while I'm gone, that's all."

Miyami snorted.

"Have you even _looked_ at where we live? This is Bethany – it's like Pleasantville, you loser, nothing ever happens here…"

Chaya laughed. "Good point."

There was silence for a moment and she looked up.

"Hey, does this mean I get a going-away party?"

"Now you're pushing it…"

* * *

OKAY, SHORT AND SLIGHTLY POINTLESS CHAPTER, BUT THE NEXT ONE WILL BE BETTER…AND LONGER. 

GO ON, REVIEW! YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO!


	10. Fraidy Cat

**_Burning in the Sea_**

Author: KuriQuinn

Title: Burning in the Sea

Fandom: Bakuten Shoot Beyblade

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade, never will and have no intention of leading a crusade to try to own them. That's too much money and too much effort. However, I do like to manipulate the characters to do my bidding because it amuses me and countless others. This is the only disclaimer you will see in this fic, so if you decide to review me saying that I didn't give credit to the real person that came up with Beyblade (Aoki Takao) I will calmly tell you to go screw yourself. That is all.

Fanfiction Disclaimer: Chaya is my own creation, as is Haley, Jennifer, Claire and anyone else that you don't recognize. Miyami Kinomiya belongs to Mags, my best friend. Aurelia Delk belongs to Band-Freak aka Lobo-Chan, as do the original forms of Jan (Ian), Minna (Mitzi) and Collette (Colette). Flash Jameson belongs to Flash, Iris Messana belongs to Iz. Sprite owns the original forms of Jordan, Rebekka (Rebecca) and Sigi (Spencer)

Rating: R for language, mature themes and mature humor

Pairing: Figure it out.

Takes-Place: Alternate Universe

Summary: When you live in small town, where everything and everyone is the same, what are you supposed to do? Why, wreak whatever hell you can, of course

**

* * *

Chapter Ten: Fraidy Cat **

From her bed in the corner, Chaya glanced stared around the small room silently, almost afraid to make any noise that might shatter the soundlessness of the small enclosure. Aurelia and her family had long since left her alone to let her get accustomed to what would be her home for the next three weeks.

Her suitcase was still standing near the door where she had left it, waiting to be opened, but she didn't move yet. Her first thoughts were that she couldn't believe how clean the room she was in was, and the way it smelled – like lemon cleaning products. It was all so big and clean and empty – the obviousness that this was a guest room was not lost on her, but it didn't make her feel any better about anything.

The room itself was Spartan, with the guise of having been attempted to be made homey but having failed miserably. In relation to the house, her room was located next to the garage. It had its own bathroom and a telephone that Aurelia's grandmother had told her connected to the upstairs floors so that they could get in touch without having to yell down the stairs. There was a table for her to do her homework, as well as a television and DVD player with tons of movies that she hadn't seen before but had always wanted to.

Coming from the cramped apartment over a hobbyshop and then entering into this amazingly large house was quite an adjustment for her, Chaya thought as she fluffed the feather down that was on her bed. It puffed up in a few areas to get rid of the excess air, and then fell limply back down again.

The flight had been a boring one, and a long one. Although used to flying considering all the traveling that her family had done, she hadn't been able to find a way to amuse herself. Even in the in-flight movies had been drab and uninteresting. She hadn't been able to sleep the entire flight either, considering the copious amounts of caffeine and chocolate her friends had forced into her before she even left. She had spent the first two hours of the flight bouncing up and down on her seat, fidgeting at every noise, which was more than difficult considering she had been placed at a window seat. Her seatmate had not been impressed. When she had turned on the reruns of old TV sitcoms and laughed out loud at them, he had been even less impressed.

Inwardly, Chaya wondered what she had done to deserve to be seated next to an accountant anyhow. The entire time he had been sending her looks like she was some lesser life form. She hadn't been able to get to the bathroom because half-way through the flight the annoying man went to sleep and when she accidentally nudged him, he had woken up yelling in Schweizer-Deutsch.

Luckily she had been able to hold it all in and the minute the plane landed gotten off of the plane. Zürich Airport had been another adventure, she recalled, finally deciding to get up and put her things away. The suitcase seemed to loom at her, but she ignored it.

Once off of the plane, she had nearly gotten herself lost on the way to her terminal. She hadn't expected having to take an in-building train just to get there. The lady at the gate hadn't been able to tell her when her flight would be arriving or which gate she had to wait at, considering for once in the history of all flights everywhere, hers had arrived early. So, Chaya had taken a deep breath and decided to improvise, magically coming out in the right place. Of course, then there had been the three hours of waiting that she had been forced to endure before her next plane arrived. Short of buying a croissant and calling her parents, there had been nothing to do besides watching the news on a big screen – which had been turned on mute and didn't have subtitles.

When she finally managed to set foot on the plane, which was a small and rickety model that would have looked adorable if it didn't remind her of something out of _Final Destination_. She spent the entire hour of the trip quietly looking out of the window, completely amazed by the Alps. It was the first time she had seen them so closely and not merely depicted as in those little phony post cards that could probably be the Rocky Mountains painted white.

Upon landing, Aurelia's grandmother had picked her up at _Thalerhof Flughafen_, all the while commenting on how well she spoke German for an American. Frau Delk was an older woman, with graying black hair and amber, almost orange eyes. All while she was driving Chaya to her home, the blond girl couldn't get over the fact that Aurelia's grandmother was amazingly cool and upbeat. Almost like her Gamma Yoshi. She insisted almost right away that Chaya should call her Omi and then proceeded to tell her everything she hadn't wanted to know but was glad she knew anyway.

Before going to pick up Aurelia from school, Omi had brought her home to put her suit case away and then progressed to feed her within an inch of her life. So far, Chaya's favorite part about Graz was the fact that when she had asked for just some bread and butter, she had gotten tantalizingly fresh rolls with actual butter. Not margarine, actual fattening, artery clogging goodness that Chaya hadn't had in years.

"Why do I get the feeling that they're going to be rolling me home?" she asked the wooden walls of her new room, slightly disconcerted by the lack of presence of her brother. After having spent a year sharing a room, she was almost unused to the concept.

Meeting up with Aurelia and her friends was…interesting to say the least. It was immediately clear to Chaya that Aurelia was almost a parallel of herself only a different nationality. Although not popular, people did know who she was – especially her friends.

Aurelia hadn't changed since Chaya had seen her a year earlier, other than she was clearly older and her hair was a little less pink and noticeably lacking the old tangerine orange streaks. Her friend was much more at ease with herself than when she had been in Bethany, which merely meant that she had lost a little more self-control.

The first person Aurelia had introduced Chaya to was Jan, who for all intents and purposes reminded Chaya so strongly of Johnny that she was hard-pressed to ask if he had any McGregor relations. Although every once in a while he seemed to give off a laid-back air, he got into a lot of trouble because he didn't seem to watch what he was saying. As Miyami would undoubtedly have labeled him, he was a 'grungy punk-rocker' and was so visibly Austrian that Chaya couldn't even bother saying anything. Messy, long blond hair and blue eyes were enough.

Then there was Minna, who was the quietest of the bunch, if it was possible, considering how every single one of them had something to say. She reminded Chaya of Jennifer in that she was seemingly quiet, but if provoked was bound to give everyone and earful. Minna was a little shorter than Chaya, with thin red hair and gray eyes, glasses and an attitude that suggested she had everything in life planned out for her and if you got in her way, she'd murder you over and over until you got the point.

Collette was another exchange student, Chaya learned, although the lucky bitch got to stay in Austria for the entire year. A pale blond, red-lipped, smart-ass French girl, Chaya was not yet sure what to make of her. 'I'm thinking by the end of this trip we'll either have killed each other or become friends. Whatever happens first.'

After Collette, there was Jordan, whose family was originally from the US like Chaya's, and her friend Rebekka. When she met them, the two of them were ready to take the streetcar down to Mariatrost, dragging their brothers home with them. Chaya was especially amused by Jordan's younger brother Sigi. He was only about twelve, but Chaya was sure he already had his entire school on the run based on his attitude. The kid was smart and funny, and not above pointing out the obvious situations of life to people to stubborn to see them.

Meeting Aureilia's friends dragged the energy out of Chaya, considering she hadn't really slept in twenty-six hours, but she was so excited she pretended not to notice. Aurelia and her grandmother brought her down the main street and they went into a little restaurant, called a _Lokal_, to eat. Chaya could still taste the Schnitzl…

She fell back against the bed completely, smirking at the loud _puff_ of the feather bed getting rid of the air in it. This trip was going to be the best thing ever…

(-)

"So, what do you think of Graz so far?" Aurelia asked the next day as the two of them wandered through the main street of town. Although mid October, it was warm, roughly twenty-degrees and both girls wore mere summer clothes as they walked through the town.

Chaya ogled her friend, and then grinned, "Where do I begin? I love it here – I mean, I didn't think I'd fall in love with a small city, I – it's – this place is the best." She raised her small camera and angled it at Aurelia, laughing as the fuchsia haired girl pulled a Marilyn Monroe pose, complete with o-shaped lips. As soon as she clicked the shutter closed, there was a whirring noise and Chaya felt her heart sink. "Okay, I take it back. This is not perfect. Not having film in my camera is not cool."

Aurelia laughed. "You'll get over it, I'm sure. If you're going to freak out they sell film all around here."

"Uh huh…" Chaya answered, the words of her friend long forgotten as her gaze fell on the huge fountain in the main square. It was surrounded by all manner of young people that looked like a cross between homeless bums and college teenagers. A few teenaged guys, possibly a few years older than her, were fooling around, attempting to push each other into the fountains. A bunch of them had removed their shirts and were acting as though it was summer in all their horseplay.

Aurelia followed her gaze and then rolled her eyes. "Just ignore them, they're always doing things like that to get attention."

"You know them?"

"No," Aurelia shrugged. "But they're always there. Come on."

"But I promised to see the sights…!"

"And that's what we're doing."

Chaya corrected herself. "I promised _Miyami_ I'd see the sights."

Aurelia snorted. "Much as I'm sure she'd love to be here, standing and ogling topless redheads, you're of different stock. And you told me you wanted to see the _Uhrturm, _so now we're going to go up the Schlossburg and see it, okay?"

"Killjoy," Chaya accused, although she let Aurelia to tug her away from the fountain and towards the Schlossberg. The small mountain before them had stairs carved into the actual foundation of the mountain that looked so perfect it was almost as if they had come into being by themselves. The stairs were closed off for some reason, and Chaya privately thought that it was so that the people could charge money to get to the top. The inside of the mountain had been hollowed out and lined with a metal walkway that led into the middle of the mountain, where a few booths stood selling tickets to those who wanted to go up. Chaya privately thought that this was extortion.

"It's a great place to just go and hang out," Aurelia explained as the glass elevator shunting them upwards moved quickly. "And if you get bored there are easily things to do."

"Like what?"

"Well, Collette and I tried to throw Jan off once," Aurelia grinned. "He's never been the same since…"

The view from the Schlossberg was breathtaking, showing the city of Graz all the way around. The copper roofs and noticeably European architecture were breathtaking for Chaya as she glanced out over the small brick wall, the only thing between her and the tree-filled drop beneath her. In some places along the wall there were little plaques with arrows engraved on them, showing different directions and which countries lay where.

Chaya knew that she wouldn't mind seeing that sight every single day.

Later on the two of them went what Chaya called 'chocolate seeing', considering everywhere they went there was some kind of sweet treat being sold. Amazingly enough, she thought proudly, she managed to hold onto her money and not buy a thing. She was saving it for the last day of her visit.

After nearly getting hit by a street car and trying to save one of the robustly fat little pigeons that was walking around on the rail, getting glared at by said bird as it waddled away, the two girls took the streetcar out of the city square to me Aurelia's grandmother. They had to drive to the train station to pick up Aurelia's little brother Mikel, who was a year younger than she was and who had gone with his class to Vienna to see parliament and some other sights. Immediately Chaya found herself apprehensive about Mikel, who seemed to be a Hiwatari double with twice the charm.

That night Chaya received four emails from her friends back home, the first three causing her to smile, and the forth making her frown slightly. Iris and Johnny had written amusing little anecdotes, Iris about something to do with them having a day off at school and Johnny wanting chocolate.

Miyami had sent a long, detailed email about how much she missed her and how she wished she had stowed away in her suitcase when she had had the chance, before detailing everything that had happened in Bethany while Chaya was gone. Following this was a list of all the things Miyami wanted to know about Graz including an order to steal one of the topless redheads and send him back to her as a gift instead of chocolate.

But Ray, although his email was the one she had wanted to read the most, wrote almost as though he was doing it more out of necessity than actually wanting to.

_'Hey Chays!  
Well I hope you're having fun in Austria! Lol, you're in the Austrian crystal and chocolate capital of the world! Don't you just love all the Mercedes Benz's everywhere! I know I'd love it. Watch out for those European men! Never trust a European man! Have a great time and I wish you the best! I hope you're having fun... god how could you not be, YOU'RE IN EUROPE! I know you must be salivating over everything there, it's totally where you should have been born.  
I miss you and all, can't wait for you to come back. Take care of your self,  
Ray' _

His tone was overly friendly and indirect and it made Chaya feel like she was reading something a stranger had written. The ending was almost like it had been tacked on as an afterthought.

She didn't manage to dwell on it, though, considering how busy she was. On her fourth day in Graz, she awoke in shock to see that it was snowing outside, the ground covered all over. It was ironic considering how she had come to Austria because it wasn't supposed to snow in October and now she felt as though she should be singing Christmas carols.

That morning Omi dragged the two girls to the Zeughaus, which was basically the old armory. Chaya was sure she had never experienced a more boring tour ever, considering even the trip to the museum last year had yielded more entertaining results. There was no heating in the place, which was made completely of wood and stone as it had been centuries before, and it didn't help to be surrounded by all of the suits of armor and weapons. Chaya and Aurelia discreetly attempted to steal the blanket off of the clay warhorse and were asked to leave.

"What am I going to do with the two of you?" Omi was still grumbling as they got back into the car.

Aurelia shrugged. "Put is in a very big hot-tub in a spa so we're warm and won't have to steal stuff from stiff and non-alive horses?" Her grandmother sent her an unimpressed look. "Or you could just lock us in the greenhouses. It's warm there too."

Later that day Aurelia took her to see a movie, where they met up with Jan, Jordan and Collette. It occurred to Chaya that evening that Aurelia liked Jan, considering how she smirked and seemed to act coyly around the 'grungy-punk-rocker'. She and Collette got into an argument about who was the better actor, Johnny Depp or Colin Farrell. Chaya managed to win the argument by dumping her bag of popcorn over the smart-ass French girl's head, which led to a tussle in the seats while the movie was playing.

After recovering from the bruises and sending glares at each other, Chaya tried to see what Jordan was doing, which was hard considering the circumstances. She had always believed that back home there was a huge problem with cell phones, but after seeing the way they were treated as extra appendages in Graz, she was formulating a new opinion. In the German speaking countries they were called 'Handys' and were used them more for text messaging than anything else. Every few moments someone's phone was beeping, and Chaya really didn't get to enjoy the movie. That, and it was very hard to concentrate because people were allowed to smoke in the theater. She was immensely glad that she had brought her asthma pump with her to the cinema.

(-)

_'Sounds like you're having funand everyone here misses you. I think even Clarkson is going insane without you here because she doesn't have anyone to blame anything on. Even my dear, dysfunctional brother is lonely it seems, but I'm not sure whether it's because he misses your amusing insults or whether he's just broken in the head.  
__But enough about my problems, let's get into yours. Let me guess…so much chocolate that you're dying of indecision, right? Poor baby.  
__Don't forget to pick me up some,  
__Do svidanya,  
__Taryn' _

_'You mean Aureillia doesn't love me anymore? Tell her I'm heartbroken! Tell her I'll change! Tell her anything to get her back to me.  
__Oh, and by the way, hi Chaya, what's up?  
__Johnny' _

_'Hey Chays,  
__I hope you're having loads of fun and I'm sure you are. Have a great time and just remember to keep a steady pace. Don't come back a hundred pounds heavier from all the chocolate, even though I'd still love you no matter. Besides, I'll be there to whip your butt into shape again! Take loads of pictures for me so that when I actually get my own money I can go there too. I hope you haven't found any Austrian guys to take my place, other wise, money or not, I'd be coming over there to pound them.  
__And then I'd go sight seeing with you.  
__Can't wait for you to come back, Bethany has been dreary without you. In fact, I don't think anyone can remember a time before you. Scary, huh? Oh well, gotta go, more homework calls,  
__Missing you,  
__Ray' _

Chaya pursed her lips as she reread the mail from her friends the fifth day of her stay in Graz having just come home from school. The computer screen had three windows up for each separate letter, although after a moment she closed Johnny's with a shake of the head. Taryn's was a little trite and the mention of her brother "missing" Chaya didn't make her laugh as she was sure was Taryn's intention, but made her frown angrily.

Ray's letter again seemed a little fixed, more joking and pseudo-friendly than she knew him to be. What had ever happened to the laid back joking? He would never have said any of the things he said in the email to her in person. It was like he was laying it on as thick as possible.

"I know one person I'll be having a chat with when I get home," Chaya mused loudly, rubbing her head.

She wasn't yet sure what to make of school. It was strange to be going to classes without her friends and the insanity that constantly reigned in her school life. It didn't help that she hadn't been sleeping well since she had arrived at the Delk house. Especially not after it snowed. Her room was right next to the garage door and she was constantly being wokn up at five in the morning just because Mikel had to go out and shovel snow. The little cretin seemed to purposefully forget to close the garage door and then bang past everything.

The firs class of the day was music, which was more fun than any music class that she'd ever been in considering all everyone did was slack off. The guys fooled around, openly annoying the music teacher and all the usual antics, which wasn't so different from being at home except that for once it wasn't Chaya getting into trouble.

French was the next class, and amusingly enough it was Jan's mother that taught the class. He worked really hard to behave and you could see it, but he constantly endured teasing and his friends trying to get him into trouble. She decided not to be left out of the gun and joined the other teens in tricking him into talking when he wasn't supposed to be.

Physics class was just as boring as it was at home, and once again Chaya found herself slouching through classes on ionic and covalent bonding.

Latin was Chaya's favorite class to date, despite the fact that she didn't understand anything that anyone said to her. The teacher had thought that she already spoke Latin and kept talking to her and she had merely nodded her head and smiled stupidly. Once he finally understood that she didn't know Latin, he ignored her for the rest of the class. The man had serious issues, Chaya thought peevishly, although she wasn't wrong. If someone weren't paying attention to him he threw his briefcase at them. Rebekka had nearly been hit by it.

History was the last class of the day and then everything ended at lunch, meaning everyone could go home. Of course they made up for lost time by having to go to school on Saturday's every other weekend, but Chaya still thought it was a good deal.

The rest of the night the three teens played video games, watching it snow outside. Chaya wasn't complaining, considering how warm her room was.

The first half of the next day was passable, starting off with what seemed to be the usual antics of arguing over what song was going to be played on the radio (which was allowed in this school) and discussing how to keep all of the younger students out of the classroom. Chaya spent most of the day with Jordan talking about Japanese Animation, who was amazed that Chaya had lived in Japan once and could actually speak it brokenly.

Between Math and Gym class there had been three hours of free time where the group of teens had wandered down to the bakery and bought food, before returning to the classroom to hang out. Usually Jan found himself alone with the girls, but today they were joined by one of their classmates, Constantin. The boy was yet another Johnny-facsimile and Chaya found herself drawn to his roguish smile and magnetic personality – not that anyone was going to know that during her stay…

It wasn't until exactly a week after her arrival in Graz that Chaya finally began to experience the dreaded disease known as homesickness. She had been staving it off since arriving, but knew that she would survive without the crew in Austria to put her back on solid ground. Aurelia, Jan, Minna, Jordan and some other guy that she didn't know but everyone told her was Minna's older brother Franz had a band and said that she could "manage" them while she was still around. It was around this time that Aurelia mentioned that she would be coming to the States to go to university in a few years.

Something extremely amusing that happened was that Chaya's teacher-repelling charms were working full-throttle once again. She received a failing mark in an English assignment because the teacher resented the fact that she spoke and wrote better English than she did.

(-)

_'Hey!  
__Miyami's been stalking redheads ever since you emailed her about those topless ones in Austria, how do we turn her off? It's getting annoying…  
__I can't believe you already have a teacher that hates you. How did you do that so quickly?  
__Everyone was sitting around the table at lunch today talking about how it would be funny if we made our life into a reality TV show. I mean, just imagine some of our conversations hitting TV. Instant success! Of course I'd be the producer and stuff, but hey. Ray thinks that most people would probably not believe that they weren't staged or scripted. I don't believe that. Our conversations are too weird to be scripted.  
__Catch you later, my brothers are dragging me off the computer,  
__Iris' _

_'I want to kill him! Dead, deader than dead! Chaya, get the hell back here and kill him!  
__Taryn' _

_'Hey, how's life over there?  
__It's been really quiet without you for an entire week. Almost too quiet. You do know you're missing Halloween, right? Because you're missing Ray's Halloween bash. Can't wait for you to come back,  
__Flash.' _

The blond American leaned back in her chair, looking around the computer room in the Delk house warily. Aurelia was doing her homework at the desk by the window and Mikel was watching MTV. It was dreary and dark outside, but a quiet peace all the same. Flash's letter had brought back her curious thoughts about Ray, especially the part about missing the Halloween bash. She'd been away for a week and gotten barely two emails from him, both written almost as though it was someone else. The other fact was that she hadn't thought about him at all until his emails had shown up or if someone mentioned him. It was strange that she was hundreds of miles away and missed her best friend more than she missed her boyfriend.

And the thought that maybe, at his party, he might catch the eye of another girl didn't really bug her as much as she had first thought it might.

"Hey Chaya, you okay? You look a little sick," Aurelia said, looking up and raising her eyebrow beneath her shades.

"Not sick, just confused," she replied with a yawn, swiveling the chair around so that she was facing the brother and sister.

"About what? Whether to dye or bleach?" Mikel looked up, his dark brown hair falling into his dark eyes. Chaya glared and through one of the books on the desk, hitting him in the head. He swore loudly and Aurelia sniggered.

"I wouldn't go pissing her off, Mik."

"Bite me," he snapped, going back to his show.

Chaya looked back at the screen, the only liaison between her and her home. Other than the telephone of course…which reminded her that she had to call Max and find out what was going on. She hadn't gotten one email from him yet.

"Hey 'Lia, I'm using your phone, okay?"

"Right."

She left the room, her face still narrowed into a frown. Things were weird here, and not only because it was a completely different country.

_

* * *

This was a hard chapter to rewrite because it was originally in the form of my emails, as all you veteran readers will know. I figured that it screwed up the style of the actual fic and changed it. I left some emails in, but took away the annoying pointless ones. _

_R&R please, _

_Kuriness _


	11. Brat Packed

**_Burning in the Sea_**

Author: KuriQuinn

Title: Burning in the Sea

Fandom: Bakuten Shoot Beyblade

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade, never will and have no intention of leading a crusade to try to own them. That's too much money and too much effort. However, I do like to manipulate the characters to do my bidding because it amuses me and countless others. This is the only disclaimer you will see in this fic, so if you decide to review me saying that I didn't give credit to the real person that came up with Beyblade (Aoki Takao) I will calmly tell you to go screw yourself. That is all.

Fanfiction Disclaimer: Chaya is my own creation, as is Haley, Jennifer, Claire and anyone else that you don't recognize. Miyami Kinomiya belongs to Mags, my best friend. Aurelia Delk belongs to Band-Freak aka Lobo-Chan, as do the original forms of Jan (Ian), Minna (Mitzi) and Collette (Colette). Flash Jameson belongs to Flash, Iris Messana belongs to Iz. Sprite owns the original forms of Jordan, Rebekka (Rebecca) and Sigi (Spencer)

Rating: R for language, mature themes and mature humor

Pairing: Figure it out.

Takes-Place: Alternate Universe

Summary: When you live in small town, where everything and everyone is the same, what are you supposed to do? Why, wreak whatever hell you can, of course

Note: Stop taking things personally when I talk about Canada! I'm a Canadian and I have a right to complain about my country's weather any time I want! I love the place, I really do, considering I live there in the middle of every effing blizzard. But going over to Austria, where in twelve degrees weather they were running around in parkas, snowpants, boots, woolen mittens and the whole winter enchilida while I was walking around ina just a coat makes a point about our differences in weather and weather endurance.

**

* * *

Chapter Eleven: Brat Packed **

It was almost the end of the week and so far, the only thing of worth that Chaya had discovered was that if you watched Titanic in German one could understand it better than in English because you were so i intent on figuring out what the hell they're saying that you forget about the crappy movie and effects and actually understand it.

_'Hey babes!  
__I wanted to send you an email at the end of the week so that is could be filled with nice, juicy info on my other wise not-so-interesting life, but hey, I figured you were missing le moi.  
__…  
__…  
__AND I MISS YOU! WHEN THE HELL ARE YOU COMING BACK?  
__I need someone to beat Johnny up with and no one here works well with me!  
__And I have another problem! There's this guy that's one of Kai's friends that likes me, but I don't like him. Not that I mind, I mean, I like having cute guys who I have a lot in common with like me, but it just sucks that I don't like him back. And I know you're either saying, "For Goddess' sake stop moping about him and do something about it!" or "Get over him, you lunatic!" (Maybe not in those exact words and they'd probably be in German considering your current location, but bear with me, yo?) but come on, I'm having issues here that I need help in dealing with AND YOU'RE IN ANOTHER COUNTRY!  
__Say hi to and redheads over there (be they male or female, just so long as they're hotties), okay?  
__Anywho, have a blast and a half for me, yeah?  
__Miss you,  
__Miyami  
PS: Got your letter – bad luck about the accountant. Did you at least wave to the British Isles for me? Huh? HUH!' _

_'Hey Chaya!  
__Glad to know you're trip is so fun. I'm starving for chocolate over here and some semblance of sanity. It's getting closer to Halloween and everyone around here is going haywire with all the candy that's available. Iris made herself sick on a bunch of dares that, we did and missed school today. We watched _Chocolat_ in French class today and I know how much you love Johnny Depp and chocolate put together, so I watched it for you and made all the usual comments you make on it…people in my class now think I'm gay because of you. I hope you're happy. Kinda busy now, but hey, what else is up over there other than school on Saturdays?  
__Anyway, can't ask more than that, I gotta go,  
__Bye,  
__Flash' _

By the eleventh day, Chaya wanted to see Hiwatari just so that she could start a fight and reduce the monotony of the place where she was currently residing. Despite Aurelia having brought her to the main street and bought her Temmel Eis, which was basically the best type of ice cream around, she still felt a little down and bored. She was also greatly annoyed by Aurelia's brother who was driving her crazy. At first he had been amusing and a jerk, but after putting up with him for a week, Chaya knew that he was the most boring loser in the world. And she couldn't complain to Aurelia because the two of them were pretty close.

Mikel seemed to believe that Graz's culture was the best thing since sliced salami. Aurelia had left Chaya alone with him using the stupid excuse that she had had homework to do – Chaya had practically written that one! Every day, Mikel asked her what the population of the US was, as though it had changed over night or something. When it didn't, he then asked about Oklahoma's. Chaya had decided that the next time he asked her she was going to tell him that it had depleted by one million because they had all died of boredom.

That day Aurelia, Jordan, Jan and Chaya ended up going to a soccer game. Had she actually been able to see the game she would have had a blast, but it was Hiwatari's party all over: pot, cigarettes and all that other stuff that was so bad that she actually had to use her pump three times. She was amazed that she wasn't rendered to cardiac arrest. At the time, from what she understood the soccer game that was being played was between two great rivals, Sturm Graz versus GAK. The afternoon was ruined for Chaya by the group of men sitting behind her that were so drunk that they kept leaning over and tapping her on the shoulder, yelling "MARIO!" in her ear and telling her to show a little more spirit. Everyone should have been thankful that she couldn't rant in German, other wise she would have gone up one side of the morons and down the other…

(-)

_Hey baby-sister,  
__How goes it over in the Chocolate country? No one's heard from you in a few days so we were all worried about what was going on. Guess what, Dad caved and bought us all a new computer so I can finally read and email you back. Great, huh? But he says you're not allowed downloading junk any more, so this is a warning I guess. It's really crappy here, mom is going through major mood swings and you're going to hate it when you come back considering our room is right next to the bathroom…I'm totally into the fact that I will never have to give birth…  
__Anyway, its so boring here that I'm on the verge of killing Tyson. Just because he's there, really. He's been really annoying lately, because Miyami complains to him what she usually complains to you. It's beginning to wear on the poor guy.  
__Needless to say, we all miss you down here and Halloween was crappy without you tonight. Ray's party was alright, but Tyson and I left early because of all the booze. Ray's been really good. He never stops talking about you and even though he gets flirted with with all the girls, he never accepts them. He keeps saying he's got a girlfriend in Europe, which has a double meaning. Lol.  
__Dad, Mom and I miss you loads and we just got the ultrasound pictures of the baby. They're attached, so be careful in case there's a virus.  
__I have to go, the party really took it out of me,  
__Email you later,  
__Happy Halloween - or , Samhain as I'm sure you'd call it,  
__Max _

Chaya smiled, roving the mouse upwards to click on the button to open the attachment. Two images of shaded black and gray showed a small shape that was recognizable of a human fetus. She could make out the tiny toes and almost the entire body. She grinned.

Her face was still covered in make-up from the evening before, when she and Aurelia had convinced the guys to go out trick-or-treating, even if they didn't get any candy it was fun to dress up and see what the locals reacted to and what they didn't. Most of them just said that it wasn't Fasching yet, so they should go right back home. The blond girl had been a mad scientist, while Aurelia, Jan, Minna, Rebekka and Jordan had gone as the Dion Quintuplets. It was definitely something that Chaya would have to put in her memory book of the trip.

"What's that, a peanut or something?"

Chaya glared at Mikel.

"No, you loser, that's my sister."

"I see the resemblance," he smirked. She punched him roughly on the shoulder.

"She isn't born yet, idiot, I don't even think she's developed the cartilage part of her yet," she rolled her eyes and closed down her email, giving up the computer to the younger boy. She trounced over to Aurelia, who was playing James Bond on the play-station. The pink-haired girl looked up.

"So, have you all decided on naming her?" she asked. "Or are you just going to go through life calling her 'The Baby"?"

"Well I dunno. I'm kind of hoping that they'll let me name her."

"Huh? What makes you think they'd let you do that?"

"Well, considering how Becky got a say in what Max and I were named…"

Aurelia coughed.

"What were her suggestions?" the Austrian asked.

"I never said they were suggestions," Chaya said wryly. "Where do you think I got the name Rembrandt?"

Aurelia burst into laughter, dropping the controller which caused the screen to loom 'GAME OVER' as James was unceremoniously poisoned with toxic gas. Chaya glared at her friend, her hands on her hips. "What?"

"I-I…never…knew…your name…," Aurelia couldn't even stop laughing long enough to force out a coherent sentence.

"It's a middle name!" Chaya snapped. "And for that matter, Max's is stupid too! His name's Maximilian Alexander Benjami – "

"…but yours is Rembrandt!"

And thus the giggles started again.

Chaya swore and yanked the second player controller from the tangled mess on the floor, hating her sister even more.

Damn family…and damn pink-haired Austrians who didn't know when to stop…

…

…

…

"…Rembrandt!"

"SHUT UP, AURELIA!"

"Am I interrupting something?" they both looked up at the attractive blond boy climbed through the window, his dirty boots making slight track marks on the carpet. Mikel noticed him and plugged in his headphones, experience reminding him that insane things happened when Jan was around.

Chaya raised her eyebrow at the newcomer.

"What are you doing here?"

"Uh, sneaking into your house and hoping no one will notice if I steal some batteries?"

Aurelia rolled her eyes.

"That's stupider than her name being Rembrandt."

There was silence, marred only by a slight snorting sound. Chaya glared at Jan, noticing his smirk and pained expression as he tried to hold back his laughter.

"Your name is Rembrandt?" he asked in some semblance of calm.

"It's a middle name. Got a problem with that?"

"No."

She waited for it, then rolled her eyes and peered at him.

"Rembrandt," she said in a challenging voice.

"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"I'm going to murder you both!"

_

* * *

For the record, the names are pronounced as follows: _

_Zürich – TsueriCH (not zurick) _

_Graz - Grahz _

_Aurelia – Oh-Rey-Lia (you roll the 'r') _

_Jan – Yan _

_Minna – Mi-nah _

_Collette – Coh-let _

_Jordan – Yordan (again, roll the 'r') _

_Mariatrost – Maria - trohst _

_Thalerhof Flughafen – TaH-lehr-hove Fluug-hah-fen _

_Sigi – si-Gi _

_Lokal – Loh-kahl _

_Schnitzle – Sh-nit-zl _

_Uhrturm – Oor-toorm _

_Schlossberg – Shloss-behrg _

_Zeughaus – Ts – oig - haus_

R&R please,

Kuriness


	12. Freebee

**_Burning in the Sea_**

Author: KuriQuinn

Title: Burning in the Sea

Fandom: Bakuten Shoot Beyblade

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade, never will and have no intention of leading a crusade to try to own them. That's too much money and too much effort. However, I do like to manipulate the characters to do my bidding because it amuses me and countless others. This is the only disclaimer you will see in this fic, so if you decide to review me saying that I didn't give credit to the real person that came up with Beyblade (Aoki Takao) I will calmly tell you to go screw yourself. That is all.

Fanfiction Disclaimer: Chaya is my own creation, as is Haley, Jennifer, Claire and anyone else that you don't recognize. Miyami Kinomiya belongs to Mags, my best friend. Aurelia Delk belongs to Band-Freak aka Lobo-Chan, as do the original forms of Jan (Ian), Minna (Mitzi) and Collette (Colette). Flash Jameson belongs to Flash, Iris Messana belongs to Iz. Sprite owns the original forms of Jordan, Rebekka (Rebecca) and Sigi (Spencer)

Rating: R for language, mature themes and mature humor

Pairing: Figure it out.

Takes-Place: Alternate Universe

Summary: When you live in small town, where everything and everyone is the same, what are you supposed to do? Why, wreak whatever hell you can, of course

Note: Stop taking things personally when I talk about Canada! I'm a Canadian and I have a right to complain about my country's weather any time I want!

**

* * *

Chapter Eleven: Freebee **

_'Come baaaaaaaaack! I'm so bored here without you, no one likes dancing naked in the street with me – oh wait, that wasn't you – never mind! But still, come back! It's so boring here and more boring and more boring and…you get the general idea, right? If you don't come soon I'm going to go on a happy-binge and steal all of Max's happy pills and hijack a plane and come get you! DON'T BE LEFT WITH THE BLOOD OF THE CHIHAUHUA'S ON YOUR HANDS!  
__John-John-The-Leprechaun' _

Chaya rolled her eyes at Johnny's insane email and opened up a new window, ready to relate all that had happened over the last five days. She hadn't emailed or spoken to anyone in so long. Nothing had really changed much, save for the bakery incident…which had been a little strange. On Tuesday Aurelia, Jordan and Chaya had gone to Minna's house after school and Chaya had decided that she was somehow going to steal Minna's room. It was amazingly cool and had much more Orlandobilia than even her cousin Michiko had. All four walls were plastered with him, Kurt Cobain and David Beckham and pretty much every band that Chaya loved. After that they left to see a movie with their school class. It was called Luther and was actually quite a good movie.

Wednsday was marked by a trip to the opera which was played at the Graz Opera House. Chaya saw Stravinsky's _Feuervogel_ and _Sacre de Printemps_ which were okay…the place was amazing, all gold and crimson and looked exactly the way an opera should look. The music was cool but Chaya disliked the ballet that went with it.

The next day Aurelia and Chaya had hung around after English class to bug the student teacher, Max, who was from Nottingham, England. It was amusing to hear him speaking German because he had a really thick English accent. Aurelia suggested that they go out for lunch and they had stopped at a bakery…and proceeded to nearly blow it up. There was an explosion of flour and a pigeon involved…Chaya didn't want to think about it anymore.

Saturday they drove down to Vienna. The drive itself was nice, overly quiet mostly because Mikel was plugged into his discman which kept him from doing and saying anything stupid. Aurelia and Chaya slept the entire way down and woke up to Omi still talking because she hadn't noticed them drop off to sleep. They ate in three restaurants that day and each day Chaya had ordered Schnitzel – she was a creature of habit in so many ways.

After visiting the Stefansdom, the Hofburg and a slew of other places that Chaya couldn't remember the name of but knew that she had enjoyed, they four of them checked into the Hotel Astoria, which Chaya was amazed at. The place was beautiful and traditional and even had the hotel smell. It didn't take long, however, before Mikel began to drive her crazy as well. She may have been a freak for history, but there's only so much that she could have shoved down her throat without regurgitating it back up. Mikel wanted to drag them to eight Gothic and Baroque churches, parliament, two national parks, three castles and a treasury. Chaya managed the two churches, one castle and the treasury before she finally shoved him into the big fountain in the main square and ran away pretending that she didn't know him.

"You know what really ticks me off?" she asked Aurelia as they were falling asleep that night. "When people here find out that I'm American and then try to speak English to me even though they can't and then treat me as though I can't understand a word they're saying. People keep asking me if I understand them and – dude, do you really think I'd be in another country where I didn't at least know how to ask where the bathroom is? And I can do that in five languages!"

Aurelia had snored in reply.

The next morning they made one last stop at Schönbrun, where Chaya had decided, she would be taking all of her friends when she was rich and famous. It was the most beautiful castle she had seen – it was even amazing for people like Aurelia who couldn't stand history and preferred to walk around the gardens of the place.

Once arriving back home from Vienna, Chaya hadfinally began the homework that she had been putting off for the past two weeks. Chaya managed to teach herself trigonometry – tangent, cosine and sine – all by herself. Of course then she fell asleep at her desk, which wasn't pleasant because she woke up eating eraser shavings.

Chaya laughed, shaking her head at the computer, and began to write an email to Taryn about how she would be paying for them to go to Austria one day…

(-)

_'Hey, I guess it's true that you really can't enjoy something of that sort unless you're with your friends. Nice to know I've been included – how much have you splurged on chocolate? Oh well, it's worth it, right? Especially if it's the good stuff…  
__Have to go,  
__Iris' _

_'Ha-ha, very funny.  
__Why am I always the one that has to pay for stuff? I'm beginning to feel like you're just friends with me because I'm rich…never mind, that's not true. No amount of money could make you hang out with me and endure Kai at the same time. I cemented up his doorway and windows recently and he had to call Grandfather's company phone line to get him out because the other phone was busy. Do you see what I'm resorting to for entertainment?  
__Come home!  
__Taryn.' _

_'It's the long stretch now, Chays, but hang in there, you can make it. And don't worry, we'll all be waiting for you when you get here.  
__Missing you,  
__Ray' _

Because the class had missed German twice in the past month, they needed to make it up and thus were stuck after school until eight-thirty that night doing extra work. Chaya was not impressed, actually contemplating fake-fainting to get out of it, but decided that Aurelia would probably kill her and decided against it.

The next day was slightly better, only because Chaya got to gawk at Constantin in gym class. The poor boy seemed afraid of her lately because she had put him in a headlock when he threatened to burn one of his drawings – one thing she had learned about the guy was that he was a diehard pyromaniac.

Sadly, she began to pack up for leaving that same day. Earlier when she and Aurelia had gone up to the Schlossberg for the last time, Aurelia had told her that she was trying to get her friends to come to university with her in a few years, and that they were all thinking of visiting the following year just for fun. Chaya promised she'd make sure her friends were able to accommodate everyone…whether they liked it or not.

(-)

_'Yay!  
__You're coming home! I'm so happy! We can be our usual loser selves in peace and we can prank Clarkson and you can be all kissy-kissy and happy with Ray and Johnny can bury his head in the toilet and…and..and…and…  
__Have you noticed how much I'm rambling because I'm so happy that you're coming home?  
__Good, because I want you to het here now!  
__Hop on the plane tonight and don't wait another day!  
__And don't forget my Mozart Kugel!  
__'Yami.' _

_'Can't wait to see you. We'll be there to pick you up when your plane comes in, call us when you land in Zurich just so that we know where you are.  
__Love you loads,  
__Max' _

(-)

By the time Chaya's flight was nearly over, she felt like murdering people. She had been depressed enough to be leaving from her adventure and returning to plain old Bethany – Aurelia had actually tried to chain her to her door so that Chaya couldn't leave, but Omi had brought out the buzz-saw and she had to go.

She had splurged on Swiss chocolates after arriving in Zurich. Before she even got on the plan, the security officers had taken one look at her and then told her to take off her boots, her coat and everything because they thought that she might have a bomb or something.

Chaya was fairly proud of herself for instilling fear in the hearts of older, middle-aged grumpy people who tried to steal her bags and didn't get away with it…

On the plane, she was in for another surprise. Sitting a seat or two ahead of her was none other than her best friend from New York, Miriam Iwasaki. She hadn't seen her in so long – but was it really her? Indecision had struck just then and then endured the rest of the plane ride – next to the man who was sitting next to her that smelled like he had soiled himself long ago.

By five hours on the plane she wanted to kill someone and was ready to start with Miriam because she knew her and because the New Yorker had stolen her Hot Wheels© collection when she was still in grade school and never given them back.

When the plane finally landed, Chaya nearly shrieked for joy and did the happy dance. She didn't bother to apologize as she pushed past the stinky co-passenger and hurried out of the plane and into the airport terminal.

"Hey, Mimi, wait up!" Chaya called as the two girls got out of the plane and began walking down the hallways towards customs. Her dark haired, green eyed best friend regarded her calculatingly then grinned widely.

"I should have known it was you," she smirked. "I was trying to figure it out the whole plane-ride."

"Then why didn't you say anything?" Chaya demanded as she hefted her carry-on bag tighter around her shoulder as they came closer to Customs.

"Partially because I was too lazy and partially because you were doing something weird with your lip."

"Oh, you mean, this?" the blond said brightly, raising her finger to her lips and flipping it up and down. Miriam rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, that."

"Just trying to pass the time…"

They came upon a split in the hallway, one direction geared towards the exit and baggage claim, the other towards the connecting flights.

"Where are you off to?

" Oregon. Connecting flight," the girl said and Chaya nodded.

"Well, this is my stop," she grinned at her cousin. "See you at the next splurge trip then?"

Miriam snorted and then laughed out loud. "Dude, I am never going to forget that. Your face when the cabby asked for your phone number – "

"I was eight!"

Miriam didn't reply as she turned towards the left, waving her hand back at Chaya, who stuck her tongue out, then notice the stares that she was receiving, inched off towards the exit.

(-)

"CHAYA!"

"Over here!"

"Hey, Chaya, there you are!"

"You're finally in! What the hell took you so long?"

The blond grinned as she burst through the doors of the Arrivals wing, her suitcase and carry-on in tow as she waved at her friends and family. Her father and brother, along with her boyfriend, Miyami, Taryn, Johnny, and Tyson waved at her with frenzied movements.

"I got held up in the baggage-claim," she explained as she was bowled over by Miyami. "Hey, watch it!"

"Don't you 'watch it' me, I've been waiting to long for you to get back," her friend said darkly. "Now get your ass in the car, we have a welcome home party going for you in full swing back at my place."

"Can't I say hi to my dad fi - "

"Well hurry up!" her silver haired friends ordered, pushing her towards her dad.

Chaya laughed, feeling glad to be back. Her father grinned down at her and then pulled her into a hug.

"How's it over on the continent, honey?"

"Different but funky. I'll show you around one day when I'm rich and famous, dad," the blond laughed as her twin got her suitcases ready for moving. She turned to her friends, all of whom were quiet suddenly and staring at her bag.

She raised an eyebrow at them, looked at her suitcase, then at them and glared.

"YES I BROUGHT YOU'RE CHOCOLATE BACK, YOU BUNCH OF GLUTTONS!" She yelled, making everyone in the airport look up in shock as the short blond girl chased a group of other teens around with fists held high as her father merely shook his head and started on his way out of the airport.

Things were not going to have any trouble going back to normal…

_

* * *

END! MWAHA! WE CAN FINALLY GET BACK TO REAL BITS TIME! _

_R&R please, _

_Kuriness _


	13. Pincushion Adler

**_Burning in the Sea_**

Author: KuriQuinn

Title: Burning in the Sea

Fandom: Bakuten Shoot Beyblade

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade, never will and have no intention of leading a crusade to try to own them. That's too much money and too much effort. However, I do like to manipulate the characters to do my bidding because it amuses me and countless others. This is the only disclaimer you will see in this fic, so if you decide to review me saying that I didn't give credit to the real person that came up with Beyblade (Aoki Takao) I will calmly tell you to go screw yourself. That is all.

Fanfiction Disclaimer: Chaya is my own creation, as is Haley, Jennifer, Claire and anyone else that you don't recognize. Miyami Kinomiya belongs to Mags, my best friend. Flash Jameson belongs to Flash, Iris Messana belongs to Iz.

Rating: R for language, mature themes and mature humor

Pairing: Figure it out.

Takes-Place: Alternate Universe

Summary: When you live in small town, where everything and everyone is the same, what are you supposed to do? Why, wreak whatever hell you can, of course

Note: Stop taking things personally when I talk about Canada! I'm a Canadian and I have a right to complain about my country's weather any time I want!

**

* * *

Chapter Thirteen: Pincushion Addler **

"Chaya, sweetie, can you put these up in the shop?" her father asked her, absently passing her a cardboard box that when she looked, she realized was filled with old photographs in wooden frames. She frowned, squinting at the panes of glass shielding the photos from wear.

"Why?"

Her father sent her an look, half amused and half exasperated. "Because I think they'd help give them a homier feel to the place." She looked at her father incredulously. "Please? I have to go and see what your mother wants."

"Only for you to drop everything and fluff her pillows for her for the rest of you life," Chaya rolled her eyes, reaching into the box to study one of the pictures.

At around four months pregnant, Judy was thankfully a little less annoying than she had been in her first trimester, but she was grating on Chaya's nerves. The girl couldn't escape anywhere from her mother's simpering attitude, not even her own room – upon returning from Austria she had found Max to be permanently moved into the study, given his own room, and that she would be sharing hers with the new baby until they could find a new house to live in. Her parents had tried to convince her that it would only be temporary, but she wasn't too sure. She could see herself living with her baby sister until she was ready to move out…

"Is this you and Judy?" she asked, not having wanted to say anything but unable to keep back the question despite the proof. The two figures looking up goofily at her, dressed in outdated and frumpy eighties clothing, beads and earrings hanging low.

"Yep."

"You mean you actually wore that?"

Her dad glanced at the super-tight leather pants and mullet he had sported as a teenager and then laughed. "Yeah. That was our look."

Chaya paused. "Did people laugh?"

Mr. Mizuhara chuckled.

"We were still in high school when we took that." He picked up the picture into his hands for a moment, smiling fondly as though on a one-way trip down memory lane. "We'd been dating for about a month then. It was shortly before your sister was conceived."

Chaya looked down at the picture of the laughing teens, and then gaped at her father. "You'd only been dating a month?"

"Well, we knew each other since we were kids," her dad explained. "We were neighbors – we played together as kids, and she was the only one who didn't think my parents were strange or alien because they were oriental – of course all of that changed in junior high. I became un-cool and she was popular, smart – you know the deal. She was actually a lot like you," her father smiled at her meaningfully, making Chaya grit her teeth to keep her face from changing expression. "Never had to study and managed to keep honor-role status, was a brain box, know-it-all, smart-ass – the only difference between me and the rest of the school was that I had been crazy about her since we were kids and I actually knew who she was underneath all the popularity."

"What changed?"

"The little things," her dad said fondly. "We found out we were the only ones that could stand the other for a long period of time without killing each other. You see, none of our other relationships ever lasted that long, and a friend of our ended up setting us up on a blind date. We found out about the plot and got back at the guy, but in the end that's what got us together."

"And then Becky came along and cemented the relationship into eternity," Chaya remarked, standing up and taking the picture back.

"Hold on there, kiddo, that doesn't mean that even if your mom didn't get pregnant I wouldn't have asked her to marry me. I told you, I've liked your mother since we were little. I'd always hoped somehow we're end up together, and we did. With three amazing kids and another one on the way now," he dad nodded at her.

"_Takato! Where are you_?"

Her father sighed and shook his head as her mothers voice broke through the silence, and smiled. "Oh well, enough history for one day, go do as I told you, hey?"

"Not even back a week and I'm already the slave again," Chaya rolled her eyes, even though she began marching down the stairs with the box above her. She grinned to herself as she thought about her parents, wondering if there actually were fairy tales that could happen. She appeared through the doorway just as another customer was leaving, the little bell over the door ringing as she left. Max sat, bored, behind the counter, chewing a wad of gum slowly. When he noticed Chaya appear, he grinned.

"Hey there, I thought you'd never get down here."

"Yeah, well, I'm here, and I need help putting – "

"I'm going on break," her twin announced, just as she was about to pass him the box of photographs.

"What? What do you mean!"

"Uh, break…you know, where I stop working and you take over?"

"I know what it means, loser, but why now? You're break doesn't happen until eight! It's not even five!"

"Yeah, well, I figured you'd cover for me," the blue eyed teen said, fluttering his eyelashes at her. "Right, Chays?"

"No way! I haven't had my break yet either, so you're going to – "

"Thanks, I owe you!"

And her brother disappeared, tossing his apron off to one side and leaving Chaya standing in the middle of the store still holding the box in her arms.

"Hey, get back here, you bastard, I never said you could leave!" she yelled, although she knew perfectly well that her brother, even if he could hear her, would ignore her yells. "Stupid jerk…stupid having to talk to Tyson so long on the phone – _I'm a girl and I don't take that long on the phone, Max!"_

With an annoyed sniff she shuffled over to the counter and heaved the box onto it, wincing at the slight jarring she heard within. She had a feeling that if any of these broke, it was going to be her ass.

"And when isn't it," she yawned, jumping over the counter and leaning around the back. She wrenched open the back drawer and fished through it, her face going red at the slight lack of oxygen due to her position. Finally, she came across the nifty little tool-box her dad always had on hand and pulled it up with her, breathing loudly as she found herself on her feet again.

"Might as well put them up now, huh, Harry," she grinned down at the cat that was curled into a hairless ball near the clock radio display case. "Considering I'll probably get chewed out for not doing it if I don't…so, where do you think I should put this one?" She pulled out the picture she had been looking at before and shuddered. "In that back where no one can see it, of course…"

Tools and picture in hand she searched out the stool for the shop that was hidden in back of the door and dragged it over behind the door. Balancing the tool box beside her on the stool, she placed the picture up on the wall, studying where it should be placed. Then, she put it down and picked a hammer and bunch of nails out of the box. Nails in mouth and hammer in one hand, she knocked on the wall, trying to find where the wooden beam within was so that the nail wouldn't completely screw up the foundation of the wall. It took about a minute before she found it, but when she did, she let out a triumphant snort and got the hammer into position. She leaned in for the first hit when –

"It should be higher up."

"AHHHH!" she screamed, flinching in surprise. The hammer flung out of her hands and landed on her toe, squishing it through the slipper. "Oh, shit-fuck-damn! God damn fucking – what the hell is your problem!" she screamed, glaring at the person that had interrupted her.

"Just helping – not that you'd know what that looks like," he said smoothly, watching her hop off of the stool and limp over to the counter, where she promptly sat on the floor and held her injured toe, rocking back and forth as she did, muttering curses. "That, and watching you now is quite amusing."

"Go fuck yourself, Hiwitari," she snarled through gritted teeth, putting pressure on her injured toe.

He didn't reply, watching her impassively while she glared up at him. He was leaning casually against the counter, wearing a dark green windbreaker and jeans.

She was semi-glad for the throbbing in her toe, because it was keeping her from reacting too greatly to seeing her arch-nemesis for the first time in nearly a month. Of course, she had seen him at school in passing, but they had begun to put new meaning into 'ignoring' each other, especially considering the frigid glares Hiwatari always seemed to have reserved for her and the memory of the one time he had slammed her into the wall. Still, meeting him this close in her own home was jarring, enough so that her stomach felt like it was doing flips.

"What the hell do you want anyway? She asked hotly. "Other than to watch me wriggle in pain. And how did you get in here without the door ringing and warning me before you decided to give me a heart-attack?"

He held up a cell phone and replied stonily, "_Motorola_ cell phone battery. Yours is the last store on a long list of ones that all seem to have been out of stock." And then as an after thought, he added, "The door was open. Trust you to be so thick as to not notice someone walk right next to you."

She narrowed her eyes, ignoring that last comment.

"And how do you know we're the only ones that have the ones you need?" she sniffed.

"Been here before. When you weren't around so I wouldn't have to put up with the twenty-questions. Which, by the way, isn't much of a way to treat your customers," he smirked at her now, for the first time in a month. "I demand you serve me according to my station, other wise I'll have to tell your superior."

She was seething, but knew that calling her dad would be futile because he'd probably agree with Hiwatari. They were guys and were helpless, why wouldn't they agree?

Standing and limping over to the display case in the middle of the room, she unlocked the case.

"You're just lucky my dad's a buyer," she snapped. "What do you need?"

"Seven hundred and fifty milliamp hour battery," he replied, flipping his cell around and extracting the battery, holding it up. "I could use an eleven thousand but I think it affects my reception too strongly."

"Nah, it should be okay, as long as it's a Motorola Original. Any other one would fry the phone," she replied, reaching into the case to grab what he needed. She was just leaning back when a cold finger trailed along her lower back. She shrieked and tripped, falling into the display.

"What the hell is your problem, you fucker!" she yelled as she scrambled to her feet.

"Nothing," he replied, looking as stone-faced as ever. "Just admiring the tattoo."

She disentangled herself from the glass case and slammed it shut so hard that it nearly shattered, then glared at the slate-haired teenager with more ferocity than ever, her hand covering the phoenix air-brush tattoo on the small of her back. She had been getting it redone every few weeks whenever it struck her fancy, mostly because it was too painful to get it done the proper way and because she wasn't legal yet.

He was looking back at her casually, his phone and battery on the counter next to him as though on pretence of being studied.

"You are a pervert and a fucking loser and if you don't fucking pay for this and get the fucking hell out of here, I will call the fucking cops on you," she said, surprised at herself by managing to keep such a level tone despite her anger.

His crimson eyes looked regally back at her and he leaned forward, poking one fifty and one ten dollar bill into her clenched hands.

"Go ahead," he said, his voice a challenging whisper. "It shows how much of a coward you are if you'll call the cops on someone just for touching you. You know, I'm amazed Kon isn't in jail by now if that's your logic."

The bell to the shop rang in the background, but neither looked away, Chaya glaring at him in hatred while he merely stared back smugly.

"See you at school, Mizuhara," he smirked, whirling around and leaving. "And keep the change."

"You're an asshole and I hate you," she whispered venomously, watching him leave, knowing he couldn't hear her.

Her grip on the money in her hands tightened painfully and she stalked back to the cash register, where she wrenched it open violently and tossed the money in, not caring whether it made it into its separate teller or not.

The nerve of him! She could probably have him arrested for assault! What the hell was his problem, anyhow? One moment he was ready to kill her for going near him and the next he was attempting a five-finger-discount on her back side – was it a guy thing or just a Kai thing, was what she wanted to know…

And that last comment about Ray…

Her blood was boiling. And she had missed verbally sparring with that loser? Hell, she'd give anything to be back in Austria as far away from him as possible right now. And where did he get off even acting that cocky around her! And why was her heart still pounding whenever she thought about him.

"Traitor," she muttered darkly, not even knowing what she was talking about.

"Miss?"

She looked up at the customer, a young man in a baseball cap, sun glasses and blue jacket. He was moving around as though he was suddenly a little nervous talking to her and he seemed to be sweating.

"Yeah?"

"What's that up there?"

"All we have up there is a fishing rod," she drawled, looking up where he had gestured. "It's not for sale, either, it's my dad's from – "

_Click_.

She stared in front of her, freezing suddenly when she found herself looking evenly down the barrel of a revolver, already cocked. The young man was still shaking slightly, but a cold resolve gleamed in his eyes.

"Empty the register." She heard his words, but they weren't making much sense in her mind. "Are you listening to me, kid? Open the damn register or I'll blow your goddamned brains out."

He seemed to have lost his nervous attitude as he tossed a cloth bag at her and she found herself moving numbly towards the register and punching in the code to open it. Her hands were shaking and now her heart was beating for a completely different reason. Her eyes flicked up towards him and he held the gun higher at her head.

"Don't look at me, look down there at what you're doing, bitch."

She nodded numbly, scrambling to comply with his demands. She had never been in this situation before…had never dreamed she would be. She'd read about things like this that happened on the news, but never…she was sweating now, her hands shaking even more. Her eyes roved off to the side, back at her task, and then she frowned and looked back again.

Kai's cell phone was still lying on the counter, next to its battery.

Maybe he'd…maybe he'd come back to get it. And then…

'No, that would be stupid,' her mind told her quickly. 'First of all, he'd avoid coming back here and second of all, you'd just make it worse for yourself if he did! You're a goddamned hostage now!'

"Hurry the fuck up!" the burglar snarled at her and glared.

"I'm going as fast as I can you bas– "

"Think about what you're about to say," he cut off her angry outburst by placing the gun right near her temple. Her heart leapt into her throat and she made a garbled strangled noise, nodding against the cold metal.

This was not good. Of all times for her mouth to get her in trouble, now she was a gun point by some homicidal, thieving maniac that…

The bell rang.

"Hey Mizuhara, I forgot my phone," Kai's voice drawled. "And I rang the bell this time, happy…?"

She heard him trail off, saw the confusion leaping into his eyes at what he was seeing, then something else, but she stopped being able to see it when the guy wrenched her over the counter so that he held her head in his hands, the gun placed up even tighter against her temple. Her hands flew upwards to the guy's arm, frozen in a position between attempting to pull his arms away and trying to keep herself from choking.

"Don't move, buddy, or I'll pull the trigger," the armed man warned.

She waited for Kai to scoff and move anyway, but he was merely frozen in the doorway, staring back at the gunman. She thought she saw his fists clench angrily, but she could have been mistaken.

"Get on the floor. Face down," came the next order, and here Chaya really thought that Kai would draw the line, but in an instant the high school senior was on the ground, face down. The man squeezed her tightly, cutting off the circulation in her neck. She felt a muffled sob escape the back of her throat. "Now pass me the bag, like a good girl."

She felt around in back of her for the bag and slowly handed it to him.

With a sound of approval he pulled her the rest of the way over the counter and dragged her through and across the shop, stopping only when he came to Kai, still lying on the floor face down. She could see the teens muscles tensed in his shoulders, as though her were waiting for something.

"Don't try anything funny, but move out of the way of the door," the man ordered. Kai inched to the left, leaving a clear path.

She was shuddering, having trouble swallowing. Was he…was he going to kidnap her and use her as a hostage again…

Her question was answered when she was suddenly tossed roughly down onto the ground near Kai and the bell rang as the burglar disappeared.

Kai was up in an instant, looking murderous.

"Call the cops, I'm going after him," he ordered.

"But he has a gun!"

"Just do it!" he yelled, disappearing out the door.

Chaya scrambled to the desk, her knee's skidding painfully on the floor as she dragged herself over. Her whole lower half felt like it had been turned to jelly and she was making strange noises at the back of her throat as she stumbled to the counter and tugged the phone off of its cage and over to her.

She could feel tears of fear and something else trailing down her cheeks as she dialed 9-1-1. Her hands were shaking even worse.

"9-1-1 emergency, how can I help you?" the cool, calm voice in her ear asked.

"Burglar…we've been robbed...someone came in with a gun and now Kai's gone after him and he still has a gun and oh Goddess please, I need some help – "

"Ma'am, calm down. What is your name?"

"Chaya Mizuhara, damn it, my name isn't important!"

"Where are you?"

"H-hobby shop," she sobbed, shaking so badly that the counter seemed to be moving too. "Six-seven-zero-four North West Thirty-Eighth – "

There was a loud crack like thunder that smashed through the air and she cried out, staring expectantly out the glass windows but not seeing anything. "Oh my g – he just…he shot…gunshot – "

"Stay where you are ma'am, we're sending in a crew right away – "

She couldn't hear anymore and was now behind the counter, the phone dropped somewhere near her on the floor, her knees pulled up to her chest.

"MOM! DAD! MAX! SOMEBODY PLEASE, I NEED YOUR HELP! ANYBODY, YOU HAVE TO…YOU HAVE TO HELP! PLEASE!"

It all happened in a whirl of colors and sounds, she was in someone's arms and Max's voice was telling her she was alright and that she needed to tell everything. Her dad was going out the shop door and Judy was there too, holding her shoulder tightly, but she didn't mind. She was dizzy and she heard sirens somewhere, close and she felt relieved because that meant they would stop the bastard and…she hoped Kai was alright…

Because it looked like the world was going dark and she wouldn't know…

When she blinked awake, her mother slapping her face. Her cheeks stung, but she could see clearly.

"M-mom?" she wondered out loud. "Mom, that hurts."

"You're awake then?" her mother breathed, eyes strained with worry. "Good." She helped her daughter to a sitting position, half holding her close to her body. "They caught him."

"Who?"

"Who? What do you mean, who? Chaya, you've only been out ten minutes, how could you forget?"

The incident in the hobby-shop flashed through her mind and she jerked upwards. She was still in the hobby shop, sitting in one of the soft satellite chairs. Max was by her side again, handing her a glass of water, but it just dribbled over her shaking hands when he gave to her, so she didn't drink.

"What happened?" she demanded. "Where's Kai?"

"Right here," a voice next to her said and she jumped, whirling around to stare at him. He actually grinned back at her, showing off a bleeding gap in his mouth that had once held a canine, as well as a black eye over his features. His shirt and jacket were stained with blood.

"You're okay? The gun – "

"Went off, but didn't hit anyone…mighta hit a squirrel though," he shrugged.

She gaped at him. How the hell could he be joking like this at a time…at a time like this?

"Here you go, son," her father said, handing the teenager an ice pack that resembled a frozen pack of bacon. "Better get back outside. The police say they want a word with you." He noticed Chaya staring at him and looked relieved. "You too, sweetie. We'll talk later, okay?"

"Here, I'll help," Max said, helping her to her feet.

"I can walk by myself, Max," she said unstably, pulling away from him. Her legs still felt like jelly, but if Kai Hiwatari could walk away from this with that arrogant swagger, so could she!

The two walked to the door.

"Jeez, you sure crack under pressure," the slate-haired teen commented casually. "You went to pieces."

She glared.

"You weren't the one with a gun to your forehead, were you Hiwatari?" she snapped. "It's not exactly an experience you forget."

He was silent a moment.

"Sorry," he grunted. "I was just…"

"Being an asshole, which is what you usually do?" she snorted. "Big surpi – "

"Scared."

She blinked at stared at him.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me," he said darkly, honesty dripping from his tone. "When I saw that lunatic with a gun to your head, my heart stopped beating, I swear. I know you went through something being the hostage and everything, but it was upsetting for me too."

Now she was silent, realizing that he had a point.

"Are you Chaya Mizuhara?" a reedy voice asked and she turned to the portly officer that stood before her.

"Yes…"

"I'm Officer McNally. Are you the one that called 9-1-1?"

"Yeah?"

"Would you come over here, we'd like to ask you a couple of questions." She nodded vaguely. "You too, Mr. Hiwatari." The man led the two of them past two parked police cars, where McNally stopped them both and looked at Chaya. "Miss Mizuhara, is this the man that robbed you?"

She looked down at the person within the car and nearly jumped back in horror.

It was the burglar, but he was missing the glasses and his face was so bloody, mangled and bruised that she couldn't be sure.

"Yea," she nodded. "What the hell happened?"

"I did," Kai said simply. "I chased him down the street and grabbed him. He tried to clip me with the gun but I got out of the way in time and managed to push it away – "

"And then you proceeded to lay into him, am I correct?" McNally raised his eyebrows.

"Wasn't going to say those words exactly, but sure," Kai shrugged next to her. She felt a giddy, half-hearted smirk on her face.

The questions lasted about an hour, but when they ended, she found herself letting Kai lead her back to her house and into the shop. Her parents thanked him profusely for helping catch the man that had threatened their daughter and asked him to stay for supper.

The two exchanged glances, both thinking the same thing.

"No thank you," Kai said politely. "My grandfather's going to want to make sure I'm alright and if Taryn's watching this on the news she's going to physically brain me…I have to go."

"I'll walk you to the door," Chaya said quickly, ignoring both the questioning looks from her family and arch nemesis.

When she closed the door behind her after arriving outside, she turned to him and crossed her arms.

"Why?"

"Huh?"

"Why didn't you just not listen to him?"

His expression didn't change, although something like anger flashed in his eyes.

"You're not serious," he stared. "Do you really think I'm that bad that I'd watch another human being get killed?"

She didn't reply and a look of hurt entered his eyes that she had never seen.

"I'm human too, Mizuhara, despite what you may think," he glared, his eyes crimson fire. "And I have to go, so if you – "

"Wait." She was struggling with it, but finally nodded and looked at him. "Thanks."

They stayed like that for a moment before he shrugged and walked down the drive way. She didn't turn to go back into the house, her heart beating wildly and she was too distracted to care. The sun was setting in the distance, its light making her eyes hurt, but she waited anyway.

When he reached the edge of the parking lot, he glanced back.

Their eyes locked and then the arrogant, self-satisfied smirk appeared on his face again and he swaggered off.

She smiled.

Things hadn't changed between them.

* * *

Ooh, yay, long and serious chapter! Hope you all enjoyed it! 

Ciao!

Kuri


	14. Carrier Pigeon

**_Burning in the Sea_**

Author: KuriQuinn

Title: Burning in the Sea

Fandom: Bakuten Shoot Beyblade

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade, never will and have no intention of leading a crusade to try to own them. That's too much money and too much effort. However, I do like to manipulate the characters to do my bidding because it amuses me and countless others. This is the only disclaimer you will see in this fic, so if you decide to review me saying that I didn't give credit to the real person that came up with Beyblade (Aoki Takao) I will calmly tell you to go screw yourself. That is all.

Fanfiction Disclaimer: Chaya is my own creation, as is Haley, Jennifer, Claire and anyone else that you don't recognize. Miyami Kinomiya belongs to Mags, my best friend. Aurelia Delk belongs to Band-Freak aka Lobo-Chan, as do the original forms of Jan (Ian), Minna (Mitzi) and Collette (Colette). Flash Jameson belongs to Flash, Iris Messana belongs to Iz. Sprite owns the original forms of Jordan, Rebekka (Rebecca) and Sigi (Spencer)

Rating: R for language, mature themes and mature humor

Pairing: Figure it out.

Takes-Place: Alternate Universe

Summary: When you live in small town, where everything and everyone is the same, what are you supposed to do? Why, wreak whatever hell you can, of course

Note: Stop taking things personally when I talk about Canada! I'm a Canadian and I have a right to complain about my country's weather any time I want!

**

* * *

Chapter Fourteen: Carrier Pigeon **

"So you promise-promise-promise you're okay?" her friend demanded as she hung off of her the next day at school, looking stricken and worried. Chaya laughed at Miyami although it was difficult considering how hard it was for her to breathe.

"I'm fine, I promise," she said earnestly, fighting to get out of her best friend's death grip. "You're the one that's going into conniptions!"

"IF I HAD BEEN IN A SITUATION WITH A GUN HELD TO MY HEAD YOU'D BE GOING INTO CONNIPTIONS TOO!" Miyami yelled, making several heads turn in their direction.

The whispering started again when they spotted Chaya and she sighed.

Ever since the seven-o'clock news the night before, the entire town had heard of the robbery and Kai Hiwatari's and her involvement in it. To tell the truth, she was sick of it. Everyone she bumped into chatted about how exciting it must have been and how they would have died if they were in her position and she just walked away. It was annoying because although she wouldn't wish what had happened to her on anyone, she did wish they knew what she had gone through to shut them up.

"Can we just talk about something else?"

"Okay sure. How do you think you did on the math test?"

"Uh…back to the robbery…"

"I thought so," Miyami smirked, finally letting go. "So, now, my dear celebrity best friend, of whom I shall be milking this for all it's worth…what's with you and Kai?"

"Huh?" Chaya jerked so sharply that she fumbled with her books while she gaped at her friend. "What do you mean?"

"Well you know, after an experience like that together, don't you think something would happen? I mean if it were me and a hot guy saved my ass I would be in the back shed with him in a heart beat."

Chaya snorted.

"That's because I, unlike you, have morals, and for your information K-Hiwatari and I still hate each others guts."

Her silver-eyed friend regarded her with a smirk. "Kiwitari? Interesting name. Crushing much? Bad girl, Chays, think of poor Ray…"

"Oh please, the day I start crushing on Hiwatari is the day the Earth starts spinning around the sun – I mean, the other way around!"

"Well, that explains the F you got in science," her best friend rolled her eyes.

"Shut up," Chaya groaned, feeling as though she had just dug herself deeper into a hole that she couldn't get out of. "I still think he's a jerk, and I still think he needs to get a hobby or a job or something and I want him to stop stalking me – and don't say he's not, because he's everywhere I see – and that's not the Michelle Branche version either."

"Uh, wasn't gonna say anything like that," her friend said absently. "I was going to say the whole 'want him to stop stalking' thing is gonna be a little more difficult than was planned."

"Why?" Chaya turned around and stared in the direction her friend was glancing in. It took her a moment to realize what she was looking at, but when she did, her jaw dropped. "No fucking way."

The poster above the regulation board was painted in eye-catching, bold lettering than anyone could see.

_Student Radio Show _

_DJ Candidates: _

_Johnny McGregor _

_Chaya Mizuhara _

_Tala Ivanov _

_Kin Chang _

_Harvey Mathews _

_Larry Evans _

_Flash Jameson _

_Franka Auer _

_VOTE TODAY! _

"Why is my name up there?" Chaya hissed at her friend, who suddenly looked nervous. It was for good reason too, considering that anything in connection to Tala Ivanov meant that it was inevitable that Hiwatari would somehow come into the picture.

"Well, uh, you see…while you were gone they were asking for people who might want to be the disk jockeys and announcers for the new radio show, right?"

"Right…"

"And, uh, we figured it'd be funky to see if you could beat out Johnny considering we all know what a mess he'll make in there, right? So, uh, I signed in your name and it was seconded and obviously people think you'd be a fun DJ. Although you haven't beaten Johnny yet…"

Chaya's eyes blazed as she contemplated various ways of killing her best friend and making it look like an accident. "And when exactly were you planning on telling me this, Miyami Alexis Granger?"

Her friend was laughing nervously now, also getting ready to back away and maybe run. "Uh...actually I was hoping you wouldn't get chosen so I wouldn't have to tell you…"

"Yami?"

"Uh, yeah?"

"Start running."

"EEP!"

She watched her friend and zip off down the halls and debated on whether or not she should follow her.

"Chaya, there you are! I haven't seen you since yesterday, are you okay?" she heard Ray's voice ask in great worry and she sighed, turning around to face the Chinese boy. She felt a feeling in the pit of her stomach, almost like some over-inflated balloon had a hole in it and was loosing oxygen by the second.

"I'm fine, Ray, really." she smiled up at her boyfriend, letting him hug her tightly, breathing in the scent of his after shave. Her eyes fell upon the familiar form of Kai Hiwatari, who was glowering over at her from near his classroom. She pursed her lips and glared back, before pulling away from Ray, a smile on her face. "Come on, walk me to class, okay?"

"No problem. Hey, you wanna go out tomorrow night? There's this movie…"

(-)

"I can't believe that old bat wants me to take counselling!" Chaya yelled loudly as she, Johnny, Flash and Iris pushed through the corridors of the school around closing time. "I just finished with that crap last year and now she wants me to take it again! It's not like I'm traumatized or anything! I just freaked a little bit and she doesn't even know that!"

"Maybe she's got a plan to brainwash you or something?" the blond teen suggested with a shrug. Chaya glared at him and then sniffed.

"I wouldn't put it past her…"

"You two are so paranoid," Iris rolled her eyes. "She probably just spoke to your parents about the whole ordeal and came to the conclusion that maybe someone to talk to would help you through it, McGregor if that hand goes any closer to my ass I'll tie you up in the cafeteria by the thumbs and leave you there until Christmas."

Johnny meekly pulled away and shoved his hands in his pockets.

"But no one died! It's not really an experience that would make me go so dark and emotional!" Chaya cried when they reached her locker and she began to stuff her books into the bag. "The only person that needs counselling is Clarkson! I don't want to spend any quality time with a shrink, it'll be like torture!"

"News flash," Flash rolled his eyes, "it's high school – the closest thing our society has to institutionalized torture."

"Stop making sense," Chaya grumbled. "Anyway, I have to go wait for Max outside. He's being held back in the gym. Think you could see what's keeping him?"

"Oh yeah, we just live to serve you, oh brooding picture of a hormonal teenager," was Iris sarcastic reply and Chaya made a face at her, watching the threesome walk off in the direction opposite of the gym.

"Smart ass," she sighed, pushing open the double doors and stomping out into the courtyard and parking lot where the students that didn't take the bus where either walking home or being picked up by there parents. Her father had said something about her and Max being picked up that day, for a reason she was sure had to do with the robbery. Ever since, he had been overly careful with her and Max and was getting very over-protective.

Judy was almost as bad, although she had retreated to her room a day or two before because apparently the stress of what had happened to one of her children was affecting her already hard pregnancy. She didn't stop commenting about that all through breakfast that morning, as though it was Chaya's fault that she had been picked out as a robbery target.

Chaya groaned, her head beginning to hurt and that feeling in her stomach increasing. She felt like there was pressure coming in from all sides of her and just squeezing, and nothing she did could get rid of it. Cursing, she looked up towards the drop-off point, and then cursed again when she realized what she was seeing.

He was there. Again.

"Stop it!" she ordered, marching up to him, the strange feeling completely gone for the moment and watching him raise his eyebrow at her which only infuriated her further.

He shoved his hands in his pockets, looking away as though not to have to look at something as low in life as her. "Stop what?"

"Stalking me!" she snapped. "I know you're human, Hiwatari, there is no way that you can go from being inside to outside in less time than it take for me to throw a water balloon."

"Interesting analogy and theory," the slate-haired teen said as though he was pondering heavily on the subject. "But you're wrong on both counts. Considering firstly you're too slow to throw a water balloon, you being you would stop to admire your work first, and secondly, I'm not stalking you, I'm waiting for my sister." He looked her over. "Unless you have me on your mind, huh? Like something you see?"

"Don't you wish," she replied darkly. "Stop throwing yourself out like that, Hiwatari, you remind me of a rug."

"Creative," he mocked, and then smirked. "Too bad I can read you like a book and that's not what you're thinking."

"Oh, so now you're a mind-reader? What am I thinking then, hot shot?"

"Exactly. That. That I'm hot."

"Ha-ha-ha, you're so funny I forgot to laugh…" she rolled her eyes. "Get some new material."

"After you."

BEEP! BEEP!

The two teenagers looked up at the sound and for a moment Chaya didn't realize who was driving towards her. When she did, her face split into a smile as the red mustang convertible pulled up next to them and the short, squat Japanese woman with iron grey hair, wearing a floral print blouse and jeans smirked up at them.

"Gamma Yoshi!" she squealed, leaning across the door and hugging her grandmother tightly. "What do you think you're doing, driving with the top down in November!"

"Don't you go patronizing your way on me, kiddo," her grandmother said indignantly. "It's a perfectly fine day out here, sun shining and all that other unimportant stuff. If you want cold, you should have been back on the mountain with me in seventy-nine!"

Chaya laughed.

"What are you doing here?"

"Picking you up, what does it look like?" her grams harrumphed, looking past her. "But I don't see your brother around here, so I guess instead of doing any picking up we're going to be sitting around and waiting…"

"Probably."

"Well, what's taking him so long? His boyfriend keeping him?"

"I dunno, mayb – Gamma!" the blond girl squealed when she realized what her grandmother had just said.

"Oh don't act so shocked, any boy that pretty and nice is bound to be batting for the other team," she snorted. "I had a brother exactly like it, no need to do any acting in front of me, girl." Her grandmother coughed. "And who are you there, buddy, no need to stare at me as though I'm some kind of freak."

Kai was, at this point, staring at Gamma Yoshi in the way one would stare at an unsolvable math problem.

"He's not important, Gamma, he's – "

"Kai Hiwatari," the teen said brusquely, holding out his hand. "You might remember me from your granddaughter's weddin – "

"Oh you're Voltaire's better looking grandson, eh?" Yoshi squinted at him. "Well, Chaya, you've got taste, I admit that…"

Chaya and Kai exchanged glances.

"We're not – "

"He's not – "

" – no where near – "

" – never gonna happen – "

"Oh shush, the two of you," Yoshi snorted. "I get the picture already. You, boy, tell your old man hello for me and tell him Yoshi's back in town if he ever wants a second try at whipping my old ass at poker again…"

"My grandfather doesn't play poker," Kai said stiffly. "He doesn't think it's a game befitting of – "

"Gentlemen?" Yoshi let out a great bark of laughter. "Yeah, that's what he said to me at the wedding and I told him that if I were a gentleman, then he should tell that to the six grandkids I have with one on the way!"

Chaya snorted and shook her head.

"Why did I get stuck with the abnormal family?"

"What's so important about normal?" Yoshi barked.

" Normal is what you have to be if you don't want to spend every day of high school getting beat up," Kai interjected. "Ain't that right, Mizuhara?"

"I wouldn't know, Hiwitari, you're the one that got your nose broken, not the other way around," the blond retorted. "And for that matter, who asked you?"

"Just figured I'd smack some sense into you. The question is should I leave it at metaphorically or start with the literal smacking?"

"Don't make me beat you up in front of my grandmother, jerk-wad, I've had enough memories being made for the week."

Maybe Kai saw the meaningful look that she sent him, and maybe he was just finished bugging her for the day, but he merely shrugged and went to stand a distance away from her. When she looked back at her grandmother, the old woman was smirking at her.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Don't you nothing me, I know that smirk!"

"No doubt you should, you were wearing it since the day you were born."

"Hah, ha – "

"Hey, Gamma Yoshi!"

The two women looked up to see Chaya's twin bounding out of the doors, followed closely by a cheerful looking Tyson. Chaya moved out of the way so that her twin could hug their grandmother, who said her hellos before turning to Tyson and peering at him suspiciously.

"And who are you?"

"Tyson, ma'am – "

"Tyson what?"

"Granger – "

"And where do you live?"

"Uh, near here – "

"Are you a good student – "

"Uh, sur – "

"On any teams?"

"Footb – "

"And how long have you been dating Maxi?"

" Seven and a half mon…" the blue eyes Japanese boy stared in horror at the old woman, his voice trailing off. Max looked at Chaya in shock as though to demand why she had told but she shrugged.

"Don't look at me," she snorted. "Gamma's nosier than I am."

"Damn right," the old woman said, letting out a bark of laughter. "Now are you going to stand there staring, Maxi-boy, or are you going to hop in so we can get home? I heard your father's making shishimi and dim sum for me, and you know how I love your dad's cooking…"

Max nodded numbly and got into the back of the car. Gamma Yoshi nodded at Tyson.

"Nice to meet you, boy, be sure to come around. I bet we'll all have a laugh at a certain vice-principle's expense…it's Rosann Clarkson that's still working here, am I right? Oh, the stories I could tell you about her…I used to baby sit her, you know…"

(-)

"Three weeks?" Chaya echoed. "Why are you staying that long? You never stay that long."

"Nonsense!" Yoshi laughed as the girl led her up the stairs. "You know perfectly well that I stayed her for two months when you and Maxi were born. Couldn't leave the both of you with your mother – that was too taxing…"

"Yeah, but I mean since that."

"I wonder what you'd have been like if I had never dropped you on your head – "

"WHAT!"

"Oh, sorry, hon, I was thinking out loud, what were you saying? Oh yeah, you wanted to know why I was here…well, I heard about the entire stick-up fiasco and figured you might need somebody to talk to that wasn't your perky brother, annoying mother and do-gooder father…"

Chaya glared at her grandmother suspiciously, before turning back to her room and opening the door. Max followed, lugging a heavy suitcase behind him. The minute they all walked in, Gamma Yoshi stopped and let out a gasp, leaning against the door for support, clutching her heart.

"Gamma?" Max asked carefully.

"I've never seen the floor of your room before," the old woman gaped. "Who cleaned in here?"

"Uh, that would be Max," Chaya said. "He's the maid in this house."

"Hey!" her brother snapped. "Let's see you try and keep the room clean by yourself!"

Chaya stuck out her tongue as Yoshi clambered around her and tossed her suitcase up on the top bunk. Chaya knew perfectly well that she was sleeping up there whether her parents approved or not. Gamma Yoshi was very adamant in not being treated like a senile woman and it showed…

"Well, I'm off," Max shrugged. "I still have to make up my bed in the office, considering _someone_ ousted me out of mine."

"No hard feelings then, eh, Maxi?" Yoshi chuckled. "I'm sure you'll be a slave to that baby when she shows up here."

She could hear her brother laughing on his way down and turned to her grandmother, who was looking around the small room.

"So, what's the deal with your mother?" She asked. "Too much…" She broke off and made a motion with her thumb pointing at her mouth.

"Thumb sucking?" Chaya asked incredulously.

"Alcohol!" the old woman snorted. "Dummy…"

"Hey, don't look at me like that; I'm not the one that needs to brush up on their finger pantomime…"

"There is nothing wrong with my finger pantomime, you're just too simple to get it!"

"Oh don't give me that, Grams, face it, you're getting old."

"Oh, I'm getting old? Look in the mirror, dinosaur woman, you're so slow you're cracking out the jokes that have been done before," her grandmother snorted. "Old? Hah! You're not going to be young forever!"

"Yeah, but I'll always be stupid," Chaya smirked. Her grandmother raised her eyebrow at her and turned around to do some unpacking. "Okay, let's not all rush to disagree…"

* * *

ALRIGHT! NEW CHAPTER UP! HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE! 

KuriQuinn


	15. Big Shiny Boat

**_Burning in the Sea_**

Author: KuriQuinn

Title: Burning in the Sea

Fandom: Bakuten Shoot Beyblade

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade, never will and have no intention of leading a crusade to try to own them. That's too much money and too much effort. However, I do like to manipulate the characters to do my bidding because it amuses me and countless others. This is the only disclaimer you will see in this fic, so if you decide to review me saying that I didn't give credit to the real person that came up with Beyblade (Aoki Takao) I will calmly tell you to go screw yourself. That is all.

Fanfiction Disclaimer: Chaya is my own creation, as is Haley, Jennifer, Claire and anyone else that you don't recognize. Miyami Kinomiya belongs to Mags, my best friend. Aurelia Delk belongs to Band-Freak aka Lobo-Chan. Flash Jameson belongs to Flash, Iris Messana belongs to Iz.

Rating: R for language, mature themes and mature humor

Pairing: Figure it out.

Takes-Place: Alternate Universe

Summary: When you live in small town, where everything and everyone is the same, what are you supposed to do? Why, wreak whatever hell you can, of course

**

* * *

Chapter Fifteen: Big Shiny Boat **

"Well…the votes are in," Miyami said resolutely as she walked into Chaya's classroom an early morning in November. The blond girl was hunched over her math homework, rushing to finish it in time for first period that day. She had come in early that morning, although not by choice because Max had to make up a French test, and had set to work having at least some of the work done. The headache that had started on Gamma Yoshi's arrival had intensified over the past three days to the point that it was interfering with her homework.

As her best friend sat down, she looked up and pasted a smile on her face. "What votes?"

"Duh, the radio votes," Miyami rolled her eyes.

"I'm still mad at you about that," Chaya said, gesturing violently with her pencil at her best friend.

"Yeah, well, get over it," her friend shook her head haughtily. "I just saw the message board. Tala and Johnny made it to DJ status – "

"Oh, that should be good, they hate each other," Chaya sniggered as she flicked her pencil rapidly in her fingers, making it look like moving bow. "I can just see the insults going back and for – "

" – You and Flash made stand in."

Chaya's jaw dropped and her fingers stopped moving, making the pencil fly off somewhere and ricochet off of a wall.

"What!" she hissed, math homework forgotten.

"You know, in case one of them can't make it, you show up and take over?"

"I know what a stand in is, why did I make it!" the brown-eyed girl howled. "I never wanted to be on the radio in the first place, I can't stand Ivanov secondly and I want to have my evening's off!"

"You're acting like you made the actual announcer position," Miyami deadpanned. "You know how little Johnny's going to want to be absent for this gig, it's Tala that'll probably be a no-show. You'll never have to worry about it."

"But I still don't want to do it," the girl insisted with a frown.

"Oh, have some dignity…"

"I have dignity!"

"Puh-lease, you burst into tears every three…two…one…"

"Stop exaggerating!" Chaya whined, letting her head fall onto her desk comically, deciding to just play along with her friend for the time being.

Miyami looked at her friend in disgust and shook her head.

"This is a sad day in history…I mean, what will Kai think?"

"Who cares what that asshole thinks?" Chaya demanded, raising her head in a jerking motion. "When did he come into the picture, anyhow?"

Miyami sent her a disgusted look. "Well, considering Ivanov is his best friend, you're not going to have an easy time of it – and he'll probably tell everything he knows about you to Kai."

"I really couldn't care less what stuff Ivanov tells Hiwatari behind my back – since when do I care what those morons think?" Chaya ranted.

"Obviously, you do care."

"I do not! He's an idiotic peace of crap with flies on the side!"

"And he saved your life."

"He – no he didn't! How did he save my life?" she asked, her tone changing from argumentative to questioning.

"Well, think about it," Miyami began. "Think about the possibilities of what could have happened if he hadn't walked back into the shop when he did. You could have been raped, or worse, killed."

Chaya was silent, turning this piece of information over in her head, then shook it, mumbling dejectedly. "Man, we're supposed to be in Nowhereseville where nothing happens…"

"Well, look at it this way. If there's something that will happen, it'll happen to you."

"Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence…" she stood up to find her pencil, which had rolled under the desk three seats away. "Whatever. Do you think you could hush up for a little? I have math homework I didn't finish."

"But aren't you missing math today?" Miyami asked in confusion. "For that whole _counseling_ deal?"

Chaya paused in mid-crouch, her fingers hovering above her pen.

"That's today?" she asked.

"Well, considering you were complaining about it to me yesterday and then gloated that you were missing first period, yeah, I'd say it was today."

"Score!" Chaya whooped, jumping up so quickly that she hit her head on the desk next to her. "Shit!"

Miyami laughed at her, her voice drowned out just as the first bell rang.

"Hey, you really will have something wrong with your head when you go in today!"

"Shut up!"

(-)

"…and just to conclude this session," Mrs. Coolidge, the guidance councilor continued as she walked around the small, cramped room to her desk to search for something. Coolidge was a middle-aged African American woman, with a kind face and short hair, dressed smartly in slacks and a turtleneck. "I'd like you to take a look at these and tell me what you see."

Chaya rolled her eyes. She was so completely bored, knowing this woman's techniques inside out. She also knew that nothing she told this woman would make her feel better, considering it would probably make it back to the ears of Clarkson somehow or another. It always did…

"Here."

The brown-eyed girl looked up and made a face.

"Dude, they're blots of ink on paper."

"I know that, hon, but I just want you to look at them and tell me if you can see and shapes."

"O_kay_," Chaya breathed, settling back in her chair, hoping that this wasn't going to take another period. Coolidge held up the first piece of paper. "Bat."

"And this one?"

"Bat."

"And this?"

"Bat."

After about ten cards, all of which were proclaimed 'bat', Coolidge put them down and fixed Chaya in a pointed stare.

"Kid, are you really only able to see bats, or are you just saying the same thing over and over?"

"Uh, it'd be the latter, yeah," the girl shrugged uncaringly. "So, what do I have? Commitment issues? Paranoia? Panic attacks? Hippopotomonstrasaquippedaliophobia?"

"No, I'd say the only thing you suffer from is an over active attitude," Coolidge said wearily. "I think that's all for today, you should go to class."

"You mean I missed getting a detention in math class for not doing my homework, _for this_?" Chaya demanded. "Whose dumb idea was this?"

"Ms. Clarkson originally came up with the idea," Coolidge replied with a yawn. "Honestly, that woman…" Chaya waited eagerly for her to continue, but she was shot a glare. "Get out now, Miss Mizuhara, I do believe it's the middle of second period."

She made a face at the woman and waltzed out, grabbing her books for the next period and hurrying through the hallways on her way to History. Turner was going to fry her, even though this time she had a legitimate explanation. But what was so unbelievable about her being invited to join a circus? That had been a perfectly credible excuse…

She should have seen it coming. She really should. And after the fact, she mentally cursed herself for not watching out and showing Reality and Fate and any other state up there that she could beat them hands down!

But, she didn't, and as a result, she found her book suddenly thrown to the ground and herself toppling into a nearby locker as someone tripped over her and when flying over to join her books.

"Damn it!" she groaned, rubbing her head and looking over at her collision buddy. She groaned again. "Oh, joy it's you…"

Hiwatari looked up at her uncomprehendingly, then, realizing who it was, smirked. "I shoulda known…where've you been?"

"None of your damn business," Chaya replied as she steadied herself.

"Standard response," he allowed, bending over and picking up her books and then dusting himself off. He looked as though he was caught between doing two things as he held her things, and finally decided on what to do.

She was immensely surprised when he handed her books to her calmly, instead of holding them over her head and watching her jump for them as he usually did when they ran into these situations.

Without another word, he sauntered off as though nothing had happened.

For ten minutes she gaped in the direction that he had gone, utterly confused by what had just happened. Had they just had…a none verbally abusive conversation? Disregarding the 'none of your damn business' part…

The books in her hands felt like weights as she returned to her classroom, a preoccupied look on her face. She just…didn't get it at all.

What the hell was up with the guy? He had been…civil to her? She'd have to ask Taryn if her brother was sick or something. The last time he'd been in a weird mood he'd quit smoking, but now he was being nice to her? If things continued like this he might even become a bloody saint!

She strode into the history class, not even hearing Turner's sardonic twit at her being late and slipped into the seat next to Miyami.

'The day Hiwitari is a normal, un-assholish troll is the day Satan hands out free sleigh rides,' she thought furiously. 'What was with that? Maybe he's just on something. I mean, the guy's on drugs half-the-time, right? I doubt he'd have any qualms about showing up to school stoned.'

But even as she thought this, something was telling her even Kai wasn't one of those stoner students.

"Psst! Chays!" Miyami poked her. "What gives? Something go wrong with the shrink?"

"Nah," Chaya shook her head, trying to snap out of her thoughts and back into the present.

"Ladies, as interesting as your social lives are," Turner said sarcastically, "I'm now handing back your essays on the Enlightenment thinkers, but I will not until there is complete silence. Some of you will be happier with your grades than others. You others…try actually reading the textbook next time and not waiting for the movie…and consider using spell-check," the old man snorted as he passed back the papers. "The sentences in some of these things are horrendous! What would your English teacher think?"

"Who? Mrs. Cranmer?" Johnny grinned. "She'd think we were all doing extremely well compared to Mr. Harvey's class. All they do is throw paper-airplanes at each other all period."

"Not exactly a feat you should be proud of, Mr. McGregor," Turner lectured. "Considering Mr. Harvey's class is for special needs students."

Johnny frowned as the rest of the class laughed at him, and then frowned even more when Turner handed him back his essay. The man stood at the head of the class, looking annoyed, waving his arms about.

"I think it's horrendous the way you kids speak! I mean, what would you think of me if I walked into the classroom and said, 'Yo, my name's Mr. Turner and I'm gonna teach youse guys some English?"

"Well, I'd have a shot at an 'A'," Tyson piped up. Max elbowed him in the ribs. "Ouch!"

"So, what'd ya get?" Miyami asked, peeking over at Chaya's essay as Mr. Turner handed it to her. The girl looked at it absently, noticing the 'B-minus' written at the top and shrugged.

"Oh, I'm one of the happier ones, you?"

Miyami showed off her 'C'.

"I'm one of the others." The silver eyes girl regarded her seat mate suspiciously. "Hey dude, what's up with you? I've never seen you accept a 'B-minus' on a history essay without a verbal war before. What gives?"

"Huh? Oh, nothing."

"Yeah, and I'm just a little cute," Miyami snorted.

Chaya rolled her eyes.

"It's nothing. It's just weird, I was on my way back from the councilors and bumped into Hiwatari…and he picked up my books for me and walked away." The blond was frowning now, even more pronounced than before. "You don't think he's on something, do you?" Miyami was staring at her, open-mouthed. "What? It's not that shocking a thing – "

"I never really believed the stereo-type about blondes being stupid and dense, but I think you just proved it true," her friend snorted, shaking her head.

"What the hell are you going on about now, Yami?"

"If you don't know, I'm not telling you…my god, I should have seen it, what with living with Keith for so long? It's so obvious!"

"What the hell are you talking about!" Chaya practically yelled, making the other people in the class look over to their corner in interest.

"Miss Mizuhara," Mr. Turner interjected, looking up from passing Max his paper. Max had hidden his head in his hands at her outburst. "Would you care to enlighten us on the interesting highlights of your life?"

"I thought she was plotting to steal the answers to the SAT's over at the university and confronted her about not letting me in on things," Miyami said smoothly. "Obviously, I was mistaken…"

Turner sighed and removed his glasses, cleaning them with a rag from his pocket.

When would he learn?

(-)

"So are you going to tell me what you were yakking about before?" Chaya prompted as she and Miyami walked into the porch of her house and dumped their books and things in the hallway.

"No, I told you. Figure it out for yourself," her friend replied in annoyance.

"But why should I do that when you know the answer and just aren't telling me!" the blond whined.

"Because otherwise, you won't find anything out," Miyami smirked. She looked up, just as Gamma Yoshi tread down the stairs, clad in a bathrobe, face mask, cow slippers and a Bloody Mary in one hand, remote control in the other. "Who the hell is Godzilla?"

"Watch your mouth, kiddo," Yoshi barked. "Us old bags have to keep up our beauty too, you know!"

"Oh, right, you haven't met Gamma Yoshi yet," Chaya chuckled. "Well, obviously, she's my grandmother…who stole my cow slippers."

"Pah, you weren't there to stop me…"

"Is she the fun one or the crazed lunatic one?" Miyami wondered, looking as though she was having trouble deciding on which one she classified her as.

"I am really not sure," Chaya smirked. "I'd say both, really. You were in an insane asylum before, right, Gamma?"

"Only because I was volunteering, you mook!" Yoshi cried, grabbing the celery stick from her beverage and whacking her granddaughter with it. "Get on, you two, I still have half-an-hour left of _Diagnosis: Murder_, so if you get in my way again you'll be brewing me another one of these to make me forget my anger!"

"Yes, Gamma," Chaya grinned as she hauled Miyami upstairs to her room. "She's having one of her off days-off."

"Dude, isn't she retired?"

"From a job, sure, but not from life. She has issues about getting older so she just lives like she was twenty. Does wonders, really…so are you going to tell me what's up with Hiwatari?"

"If you think springing the question on me is going to make me tell you, you're sadly mistaken," Miyami replied evenly as she sat down on the bunk-bed. "So, have your parents decided what they were going to do with sleeping arrangements when your little sister gets here?"

"Well, moving is out, considering we don't have the mullah for that yet," Chaya shrugged. "So right now Max is sleeping in the study and the baby bunks with me because the room's closer to my parents."

"So you get stuck with baby-duty?"

"Yeah, but I agreed to that when we had the big controversy about her even being born," she replied. "I said I'd help out, and I guess the parents took that as me volunteering to do it all. I don't mind, and if you guys think hanging out with someone that totes their little sister around is stupid and lame, you can all stick it where the sun don't shine."

Miyami laughed out loud.

"Wow, working mother at fifteen and your still a virgin. Nice."

"Oh, shut up…" Chaya hit her friend with a pillow.

"So, what does Ray think about this little arrangement?" her friend prompted, catching the pillow and throwing it back. "I mean, it's already got to be hard watching his little sister on practically every date you go one, but now you're gonna go bringing another one along? You'll be like a real family!"

Chaya felt a twinge of guilt bubble up inside her at the thought of her boyfriend. She knew it wasn't fair to him, he hardly got to spend time with her as it was and he was always so apologetic about it too! She hated to make things hard for him, but lately it seemed hard to even remember that Ray was her boyfriend instead of just a friend. All they ever did together was babysit Ying-Fa, hang out with their friends and go to the odd movie. It was exactly the same as before when they'd just been friends.

"So…I take your silence as an 'I haven't told him yet'…"

"I've told him! He knows about her," Chaya began guiltily.

"I'm sensing a 'but' here."

"'But' it's more like a…I don't know."

"Ray really likes you, Chaya. You're the longest relationship he's been in, you know that? He's really committed and if you went and told him all of a sudden that you wanted to get married, he'd do it…I mean, I know you're fifteen and you really don't care about that crap, but he's the type of guy that would sacrifice everything for you. Have you guys even thought about the Big Question yet?"

"The what?"

Miyami sent her a meaningful look and Chaya turned red.

"Miyami!"

"What! It's a natural concern for a best friend to know these things," the silver haired girl said plainly. "So spill. Hanky-panky or no hanky-panky?"

"Well…no," Chaya mumbled, still red-faced.

"Well, are you going to?"

"You know, to be honest, I'm not into that whole 'drop your pants for the first guy that comes around' kinda deal," she mumbled coolly. "I don't want a chance of what happened to Judy to happen to me. So if I ever get in the mood to sleep with someone, it'll be after a career has been made available."

Miyami sniggered.

"Chays, you are the portrait of a modern woman…and for that, you'll be alone and bitter for the rest of your life."

"Just because I have principles!"

"Uh, yeah."

"Bitch!" Chaya laughed, going in to assault her friend for the second time with her pillow. "I'll make you eat those words!"

"Hey, I have a better idea, why don't you make me something to eat?"

"DIE!"

* * *

Et Voila! Un autre chapitre! 

Kuriness


	16. Pillow Eater

**_Burning in the Sea_**

Author: KuriQuinn

Title: Burning in the Sea

Fandom: Bakuten Shoot Beyblade

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade, never will and have no intention of leading a crusade to try to own them. That's too much money and too much effort. However, I do like to manipulate the characters to do my bidding because it amuses me and countless others. This is the only disclaimer you will see in this fic, so if you decide to review me saying that I didn't give credit to the real person that came up with Beyblade (Aoki Takao) I will calmly tell you to go screw yourself. That is all.

Fanfiction Disclaimer: Chaya is my own creation, as is Haley, Jennifer, Claire and anyone else that you don't recognize. Miyami Kinomiya belongs to Mags, my best friend. Aurelia Delk belongs to Band-Freak aka Lobo-Chan. Flash Jameson belongs to Flash, Iris Messana belongs to Iz.

Rating: R for language, mature themes and mature humor

Pairing: Figure it out.

Takes-Place: Alternate Universe

Summary: When you live in small town, where everything and everyone is the same, what are you supposed to do? Why, wreak whatever hell you can, of course

**

* * *

Chapter Sixteen: Pillow Eater **

Chaya stared at Ray as though he had grown two heads, tilting her own to one side as though she couldn't understand an extremely vexing math problem. "So…you want to throw a party?"

"Yeah," Ray grinned up at her from where he sat next to her at the lunch table. He wore an expression like that of a little kid on Christmas, excited and pleased. "I mean, no one else has anything planned, that dance was cancelled because Clarkson's a jackass…my house is easily able to accommodate people…and my parents are taking Ying to see my cousins. It's perfect, it'll be fun and it'll be a celebration before exams start."

"Well, I guess, sure," Chaya shrugged, unable to keep the mix of apprehension and the unenthusiastic note out of her voice. A party was one of the last things on her mind at the moment, and not only for the reason that she remembered what had happened to her at the last party she had attended.

Chaya had been feeling off for more than a week now, nothing at all like herself. She didn't understand what was wrong with her, considering she felt healthy and seemed healthy to everyone around her. But something was wrong. Her headaches were getting worse and much more frequent, but there was nothing to account for them. A restless, breathless feeling had been filling her steadily each day and been mounting until her entire head felt like it was filled with Styrofoam.

For a time Chaya was sure that it was all in her head. Besides, who would have the time to listen to her talk about something she wasn't even sure was wrong with her anyhow? Her entire family was becoming crazed at the prospect of the new baby, even the twenty-week pregnant Judy. She always seemed to have to remind Chaya that she was pregnant, even though her daughter could see it perfectly well herself. The frequent calls from Becky didn't help much either. The phone line was always tied between Judy and Becky chatting about their expectancies and any time Chaya interrupted, by mistake or not, she was snapped at that she had no consideration. Even Gamma Yoshi was telling her to help out more for the baby and it always seemed like she was in the way. Even to Max…

School hadn't improved either. The talk of the robbery had slowly dispersed, but concentrating, calculating looks from the other students hadn't. The worst of them was the glare reserved for Chaya from Hiwatari, which was usually followed by insulting taunts from Ivanov that Chaya found herself almost unable to come back to. Every now and then she just felt so fired and sick of them that she just walked away without comment. Clarkson had noticed something, perhaps the lack of trouble or the lack of resistance to her, because she hauled Chaya off to the guidance councilor twice a week instead of once.

What really got to her was that not even the people closest to her seemed to notice there was something wrong, which made Chaya even more sure that it was just her. Miyami fooled around with Iris and the others as though nothing was wrong, making Chaya feel a little angry because she wasn't being paid attention to. And then moments after having these thoughts she would berate herself for being a brat, considering how could her friends worry about her if they didn't know what was wrong? She didn't even know what was wrong!

"You don't like the idea?"

She snapped out of her inner reverie instantly to notice that Ray was frowning at her, something flickering in his eyes before it was replaced with worry. A panic set in for a fraction of a second and she reached for his hand.

"That's not it!" she protested quickly, recovering herself just in time. "It's just, uh, I tend to have bad luck with parties. You remember last time, you had to carry me to your house because I passed out."

"Well my parties are different from Kai's," Ray replied. "I don't allow smoking or anything like that, drugs and crap. Alcohol, sure, loud music, of course, but nothing that would be a hazard to anyone."

Chaya snorted. "In the long run, it's all hazardous…"

"So that means you won't come?" He sounded crestfallen. A wave of guilt hit her for putting out whatever funk she was in on Ray.

"No, it means I will come, but I shall do so with a resolution not to do anything stupid and pass out again," she grinned, leaning over and kissing his cheek as though to reassure him. "So, when were you thinking of having it?"

"Heh heh…tomorrow night?"

"WHAT!"

(-)

"Keys," Chaya ordered firmly, not moving from the door before one of the seniors passed her his car keys. She let him in and then moved back into place before the next one appeared. He was a burly Asian teenager that Chaya recognized as the captain of the school football team. Despite the fact that he was twice her size, she steeled herself before him and held her hand out. "Keys."

He looked at her in disbelief and snorted, getting ready to push past her. "I ain't givin' my keys to you."

Chaya narrowed her eyes, holding the doorframes with two hands. "You will if you want to get into this house."

"And who the hell are you to make me do that?" he leered at her. A group of his friends stood behind him, smirking at her as though she was some form of entertainment.

"Do you really want me to put you on the list buddy?" she replied. "Because I _can_ make your senior year hell."

One of his friends suddenly adopted an expression of worry and pushed his way up to the front so that he was level with the football captain. "Hey… Gary, maybe you should just do as she says. That's the crazy chick that attacked Hiwatari last year – you know, the one that burned down her old school?"

' Gary' looked her over carefully, now slightly wary and finally dug his keys out of his jeans pocket, tossing them to her.

"Don't lose them," he ordered gruffly, before pushing past her.

Chaya stared after the seniors askance, confused. When had the circumstances of her last expulsion become public knowledge? Frowning as she tossed the keys into the basket that held every other guests' keys, she decided that she would be having a talk with one of her friends that couldn't hold their alcohol…either Miyami or Max…She knew perfectly well that she couldn't really have taken down that butch Senior, but if her reputation preceded her by that much there wasn't a great deal she could do about it

She shook her loose hair over her shoulder, straightening out her crimson tank top she was wearing, glad that she had opted for a pair of jeans instead of the risqué dress Miyami had attempted to get her into before coming here. She felt more comfortable with most of her skin covered up…it was enough to feel spacey, but to look it was an entirely different story.

"Hey, jail-keep, how's it hanging?" Chaya smiled wanly up at her aforementioned best friend, who had arrived with a flourish, dressed in capris, a yellow tube top and black hoody. She was wearing enough black eyeliner to make Chaya wonder if she hadn't been in a fight.

"Not too bad," she shrugged.

"Good," Miyami nodded. "Because I'm relieving you of your post."

"Huh? But I like striking fear in the hearts of the people. It's fun."

"I don't care. Go find your boyfriend and have some fun. Us non-tied-down losers should be watching the door," Miyami tossed her hair, but grinned, as though enjoying the prospect. Something made Chaya believe that Miyami only wanted the door post to scout for interesting looking guys.

"Oh stop complaining, you know perfectly well that if you wanted a boyfriend, you could get one," Chaya snorted. "What with legs like that? Anyway, how will you get people to give you their keys? You're not exactly ferocious looking, unless you got no sleep…"

"Shut up, wise-guy, it's all about connections," Miyami smirked. "First off, they know I'm your best friend and they'll all be afraid. Second, if they aren't, it's called having three siblings and a cousin here too."

"Really?" Chaya raised her eyebrow in surprise. Miyami looked down, as though put out.

"Well, it's really only Keith, but he counts as three…"

"You're so hopeless."

"And you're so danceless, go find Ray and make-out or something!"

Chaya stuck out her tongue at Miyami but did as she was told, wading through the many arrived guests as she did so. Ray might have said that he didn't allow smoking or anything like that at his parties, but she was sure that she could smell cigarette smoke as well pot. She felt sick, but steeled herself against it and looked determinedly for Ray. Which was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

"Hey, Chaya!" she looked up when her name was called out and grinned when she noticed Taryn standing by the table where punch was being served, dressed calmly in deep purple corset and leather pants. Her arms were bare for once and Chaya could see the ankh tattoo on her right shoulder.

She hadn't really talked to or spoken much to Taryn lately and felt a little guilty, although it was more the fault of Taryn being grounded by her grandfather for stealing her brother's new car and going joy-riding.

She was just angry that she had missed it.

"Hey dudette, how's it hanging?"

"Pretty good," Taryn shrugged, winking her darkly shadowed eye. "My sentence is over and Grandfather finally let me leave the grounds."

"Cool," Chaya smirked, picking up a glass of cranberry punch and taking a sip. "So, does this mean I get to come over and harass your brother and then we go skating again?"

"Maybe," Taryn smirked. "But the way I hear, you'll get plenty of time to harass and badmouth on air, Miss Replacement DJ…I've got enough dirt on him if you need material for the show."

"Okay, shut up about that, I didn't even want to do that," Chaya grumbled, hiding her face in her hand for a moment. She was never going to live down the fact that she was going to be on the radio, and that she might have to spend time with her worst enemy's best friend. Her only hope was that she wouldn't be needed overly much and that after Christmas Clarkson would decide to change who worked the shifts.

"Uh-huh, yeah sure," Taryn smirked.

Chaya changed the subject. "Have you seen Ray by any chance?"

"Yeah, he was over here looking for you and then he left. Maybe he'll come back though…"

Chaya and Taryn hung out around the drink table for half-an-hour before Taryn's friend Aaron, a junior that sported a mohawk and a _Clash_ T-shirt demanded that she dance with him and dragged the Goth off to the middle of the room. Chaya found herself left completely alone and decided that it would be safer to stick near the table for Ray to find her in this mass of people that filled his house. She ended up waiting an hour for her boyfriend, who didn't show up, sipping the punch slowly and noticing how every time it seemed to taste better and how with every sip she felt a little more lightheaded. Strangely, the lightheadedness was good because it ate away the stuck, breathless feeling she had been living for the past week and a half.

She glanced at her watch. It was eleven-thirty.

Ray didn't show and she got tired of waiting, accepting the offer to dance from a Junior she didn't know, as well as a quick twirl around the floor with Johnny and Flash. She noticed Flash eyeing one of the girls on the floor rather coyly and left, going to get another glass of punch.

She couldn't remember much after that. She finally saw Ray across the room and waved and he called something to her, but she couldn't hear. He waved her over but the moment she went to move, he was shielded by the bulky body of the football captain from earlier. She swore, took a sip of her drink, put it down and left, intent on finding Ray.

She wasn't feeling very good, and although this time she could breathe perfectly well, she didn't want to be sick at his house. She didn't understand, she'd kept away from the smokers and stoners…what…

"Hey, watch it," a voice said in her ear as she tripped over someone – something that wasn't hard to do in this crowd.

"Y-you washit," she slurred, tipping over him. She was caught and was suddenly looking up into a familiar intent face with crimson eyes and slate-colored hair. "Oh, its…you." She wobbled, pulling herself upwards and away from him. "Get away…"

"Shit, Mizuhara, you're piss drunk," he said, and she wasn't able to understand his tone. It might have been worry, or disgust or…amusement at her predicament.

"Yeah, well, you're drunk twenty-four seven," she grumbled, trying to pull away from him. "I'm…allowed – and I'm not drunk. I only drank punch – "

"You little idiot, that was cranberry vodka cocktail," he snapped in exasperation.

"It was?" she frowned, glaring out at the spinning world. This wasn't good news. There was a definite, important reason that she didn't drink.

"Yeah, it was."

"Oh." She swallowed. "Then that explains why my stomach feels like it's about to explode." She clapped her hand over her mouth and glanced around hurriedly for a way out of the throng of teenagers, the blasting music pulsing through her head. There was no way she'd make it out in time and then she'd have a lot of explaining to do to Ray and his family…

She suddenly felt a hand encircling her own and she was being led quickly through the crowd, the flashing colors doing nothing for her present condition. She could only see the back of his head and existed only in her dizzy little world until he led her up the back stairs by the sitting room and past Ying Fa's room.

"It's a good thing Ying's with her parents, or she wouldn't be sleeping right now," Chaya remarked in a low voice, not even understanding what was going on. Her eyes fell on the kitchen and she could smell the dozens of boxes of pizza that Ray had ordered earlier.

The bile rose up in her throat and she clapped her hand over her mouth again.

He pulled her into a room to the right and closed the door behind them, drowning out the music.

She almost didn't make it to the toilet in the corner and was suddenly on her knees, her face in the bowl and she was heaving up everything she had drunk and eaten in the past few hours. As she stopped, the nauseous feeling become calmer and her trembling knees pulling her back again, she noticed that her hair was being held by him, as he watched her dispassionately, making sure that she didn't get anything in it.

"What's with you," she groaned, reaching up with trembling hands to flush the toilet and then leaning back at the opposite wall, her hair now protectively in her own hands. Her head was killing her and her mouth and throat burned painfully. "And how did you know how to get to Ray's parents bathroom?"

"You're not the only one that's had to baby-sit the Spawn of Satan," he told her dispassionately. She held back a painful chuckle at Ray's sister's expense, before leaning her head back on the tiles of the bathroom and closing her eyes. She tried to stop the world from spinning, inhaling deeply. The stuck feeling was back, having only been temporarily been pushed away. She felt more restless than ever before.

"What time is it?" she asked weakly, her voice sounding raspy.

"Around two o'clock in the morning."

She groaned, thinking about how her family was going to kill her for staying out late and not calling them, before she remembered that she had told everyone that she was at Miyami's house. Her memory was fuzzy at the moment and it was for this reason it took her almost a full five minutes to remember that she was currently sitting in the company of none other than her worst enemy.

She looked at him with a frown.

" What…" she made a face and hurriedly leaned back over the toilet, throwing up again loudly. She could feel her shoulders shaking in effort and the chills creeping up her body. Again she felt him behind her, dutifully keeping back her hair.

She made a face, both at him and at how horrible she felt and pushed herself back into the wall, pulling her knees up to her chest and feeling miserable. Wiping her mouth, she forced out, "What are you doing?"

He didn't reply, instead looking up at the ceiling as though it held answers to life's hardest questions. She thought for a moment that he was giving her the silent treatment and her anger sparked, "If you're not going to tell me what the hell you want, go away. I don't need help, least of all from you – I'm fine."

He sent her a piercing glare that in her sickened and weak state managed to make her shrink back a little. "Of course you're fine, Mizhuara, you're just throwing your guts up because you feel like it."

"And you're enjoying every minute of it!" she accused him. "It must be a great rush for you to get to see me sick and miserable and not on your ass about something, right Hiwatari? That why you're here?"

"You fucking moron," he replied quietly, looking at her in disgust. "Do you know how many assholes are out there right now looking for some drunk girl to take advantage of? You'd be a prime target."

"Oh, yeah, and you really care about that?"

He glared at her ferociously and leaned over; for a moment she thought he was going to hit her, but when he cupped her chin in his hands and stared at her seriously she froze, not knowing what to make of it. He still looked angry and cold and when he spoke, his voice was a low angry hiss, "You want to know something, Chaya? You want to know why I haven't had you arrested or sued yet? Because I fucking well could have had it done a million times since I met you – " his eyes narrowed. " – but I didn't because there's always something else that you're going to do. And I want to see what you're going to do next – "

He opened his mouth as though to say something, frowned and closed it again, as though what he was trying to get out wasn't coming out the way he wanted it to. She tried to say something, tried to think of a jeering insult or something, but was stopped when she felt his thumb absently stroking her cheek.

"You have a brain, a personality and you make people laugh. I'd really be an asshole if I let someone take advantage of that, even if I hate you."

"You're not giving a good impression of that," she said quietly, practically pressing herself into the tiles despite the knowledge that there really wasn't any escaping Kai or the butterflies in her stomach. She could tell that he was angry about something and couldn't figure out what. For a moment the still rational part of her mind thought it might have something to do with his grandfather or something.

And he was leaning closer to her and quickly pressing his mouth against her own before pulling back, as though he didn't care that she'd just been sick moments before. Shocked, she pulled away from him roughly, regarding him with angry eyes.

"Stop it!" she cried. "Stop, just – this isn't…this isn't supposed to happen!" She scrambled to her feet and into a position that somewhat resembled standing. "Just, don't finish what you're about to...I hate you! You're a stuck up, masochistic asshole that insults people because you think you're better than them – you think you can have anyone! You go around…you go around fucking girls and then leaving them because it makes you feel better about yourself and then you come home to this place and act the dutiful grandson to a man that doesn't give a shit about you or your feelings and you're trying to live up to that and it makes you an even worse person – you're so screwed up that now you're going after me, as if I…as if I don't have enough problems!"

He glared at her. Her breathing was rapid and her throat hurt, but not in the burning way, more like there was a lump choking her. She felt her pulse racing and a hysterical buzz floating through her entire system. She was losing control of herself, and just this thought managed to help her push everything back again. She managed to regulate her breathing and calm herself down, narrowing her eyes at him and saying coldly,

"You're a jerk. I hate you. It's not going to change."

For a moment they glared at each other, before he shrugged, stony faced and turned to leave. She felt sick again, but for more reasons than that she was drunk. He was standing in the doorway, not leaving, but not looking back either as he told her quietly, "You're still holding onto meaningless grudges because it makes you feel safe. I'll go tell your boyfriend that you're up here. Then he can find someone to take you home. You know, Mizuhara, if you're so bad at holding your liquor, maybe you should forget coming to these things. You could get hurt."

She shivered, gripping her fists so tightly that her nails dug into her palm.

She didn't…she didn't understand it.

Her pulse still beat loudly and at a fast pace and she was trembling.

Why did he have to go and screw everything up, she thought furiously. Once again she felt her stomach clench and she leaned over the toilet. The burning pain of her throat bringing tears to her eyes.

It would be a long night…

* * *

R&R please, 

Kuri


	17. Broken Telephone

**_Burning in the Sea_**

Author: KuriQuinn

Title: Burning in the Sea

Fandom: Bakuten Shoot Beyblade

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade, never will and have no intention of leading a crusade to try to own them. That's too much money and too much effort. However, I do like to manipulate the characters to do my bidding because it amuses me and countless others. This is the only disclaimer you will see in this fic, so if you decide to review me saying that I didn't give credit to the real person that came up with Beyblade (Aoki Takao) I will calmly tell you to go screw yourself. That is all.

Fanfiction Disclaimer: Chaya is my own creation, as is Haley, Jennifer, Claire and anyone else that you don't recognize. Miyami Kinomiya belongs to Mags, my best friend. Aurelia Delk belongs to Band-Freak aka Lobo-Chan. Flash Jameson belongs to Flash, Iris Messana belongs to Iz.

Rating: R for language, mature themes and mature humor

Pairing: Figure it out.

Takes-Place: Alternate Universe

Summary: When you live in small town, where everything and everyone is the same, what are you supposed to do? Why, wreak whatever hell you can, of course

**

* * *

Chapter Seventeen: Broken Telephone **

"So, I heard you filled in for Johnny the other night," Miyami whispered as she and Chaya sat in history class the next Monday. The blond girl immediately tensed up and sent a glare at her best friend the moment she was reminded of what had transpired the Sunday evening before. It was still a sore subject considering it had taken place directly after Ray's fiasco of a party.

"Uh-huh," Chaya grunted. The memory of what a pompous ass Tala Ivanov was made her want to break something into millions of little pieces. It seemed that while his buddy Hiwatari had become more withdrawn and hermit like, he had upped the amount of cockiness in his usual attitude, making personal comments and twits at an alarming rate. And Chaya, because it was always her that got into trouble, had to be the one to curb her attitude when it came to the redhead. And that wasn't all that she was curbing as of late…

"And I heard you and Tala got major good ratings because you wouldn't stop arguing. Clarkson's furious, but the radio station says they've never gotten that many listeners on a Sunday night."

"Look, can we not talk about this?" Chaya asked darkly.

Her friend looked at her askance. "Why?"

"Because I don't feel like spilling out what I want to spill out with half the class listening in."

And it was true. When Miyami turned around, she saw that nearly every pair of eyes in the class was tuned to her and Chaya. Even Mr. Turner was looking at them, although it was not a look to show interest, merely boredom and annoyance at having his lesson interrupted.

"Are you two quite finished with the latest rumors and gossip?"

Miyami made a face at him and the two girls returned to their attentive positions. Chaya snarled at one of the popular girls that had been gawking at her as though she wanted to take notes.

"As I was saying…due to the fact that the midterms are coming up, and that you will not be having an exam – " there were scattered cheers throughout the room. "Yes, yes, isn't it wonderful that you don't have to exert yourselves? Anyhow, because of the lack of testing around the Christmas holidays, you will each be writing a biographical project, complete with bibliography on a person of your choice – yes, Miyami?"

"So this thing can be about anyone?"

"Anyone real," Turner raised an eyebrow.

The girls looked at each other, and then over at Turner, before Miyami yelled,

"I pick Chaya!"

Quick not to miss a beat, Chaya murmured in pseudo-enthusiasm, "I pick Miyami!"

Turner stared at the two of them and then reached up and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I walked right into that one, didn't I?"

The rest of the class passed without too much effort on Chaya's part, considering all that she did was write her notes and staunchly refuse to answer Miyami's constant prodding about what was wrong with her. By the time the bell rang, Chaya was up and walking purposefully towards the door in a sulk that had the freshmen running for cover.

Miyami followed, looking confusedly at her friend as she followed her. The girl refused to speak even as she was going through her locker, roughly shoving stencils and textbooks into her bag, steadily ignoring Miyami even as the girl became more incessant in her demands to know what was wrong with her.

She managed to get all the way to the parking lot of the school before Miyami grabbed her by the shoulder and yanked her around to face her, an angry look on her face. "Look here, babes, don't put your little mood out on me – either tell me what the hell's pissing you off or you can go cool your heels alone."

Chaya kicked her feet at the pavement, looking out from beneath hooded eyelids to see if anyone was around, and then let her shoulders sink. She sat down, cross-legged and put her face in her hands. "Three guesses and the first thirty five billion don't count."

Miyami didn't even have to pause before she said, "Kai?"

Chaya nodded, flexing her fingers as though she was imagining herself strangling the guy in question.

"How can you say that, Chays – you don't even go near the guy any more," the silver-eyed girl said incredulously. "I think this is the longest quiet spell that you guys have had between the two of you since you met. You don't even _look _at each other at all – "

"He's getting at me through Ivanov, I know it," Chaya looked up, her eyes fierce.

She didn't expect her friend to laugh, but when she did, she felt an indignant note enter her voice. "What's so funny!"

"You're so caught up in yourself today, Chaya, that you're not even thinking clearly. Does Kai actually seem like the type of guy to set his friends after you?" Miyami asked, crouching down low and peering at her friend intently. "Huh?"

Chaya opened her mouth to reply, and then shut her mouth again, remembering that Hiwatari was the type that didn't need people, they just seemed to need him. Like she had long ago discovered, he was the loner that surrounded himself with people to keep everyone from noticing that he was alone. For a moment she tried to keep to the fact that he was a good actor, but kept getting brought back to what he had said to her at Ray's party.

That had been too out of character for him to be bad acting; that had just been real. But she didn't want it to be real, because…

"See?" Miyami grinned, as though she had gotten through to her friend. "There we go – even Kai's not like that. I bet it's just Tala standing up for him. They may not look like they're more than pack buddies, but they've been friends longer than Kai and Ray were friends. And that's longer than I know both of them." She noticed Chaya's face and looked worried. "Aw, come on Chays, what's up? You look as squicked out as when he kissed you." She adopted a teasing look on her face. "Did the big-bad-Hiwatari kiss you again?"

Chaya glared at Miyami, her voice low. "That's not funny."

Miyami snorted. "Of course it's funny, unless you – " she cut herself off, her jaw dropping. "What? When!"

"At the party last week," Chaya mumbled. "And then he got all weird on me – "

"You mean he actually went for it?" Miyami crowed. "You're kidding me! I didn't think he'd actually – " She noticed the horrified look on her friend's face. "Uh…Chaya?"

"You knew?" the blond girl hissed, jabbing her finger in her friend's face. A rush and feeling of betrayal washed over her, mingling with the mounting tension she had been feeling for so long now. Her head throbbed, not so much in pain as in the overwhelming gravity and uselessness of everything. Miyami pushed her hand out of her face dismissively, and Chaya let it drop to her side weakly.

"Of course I knew," she mumbled indignantly. "I think I'm the only one that knows, other than Tala – because make no mistake, why else would he be giving you the run-around if you've got Kai in knots – "

"How do I have Hiwatari in knots? If anyone's got him in knots it's him – for Goddess sakes, one minute he's attempting to toss me through a wall and the next he's kissing me – he's goddamned bipolar!" Chaya snarled.

And that's when it happened. Suddenly, as though someone had flicked a switch, Chaya's mouth was moving and she was speaking but she didn't know what she was saying. "All because his stupid grandfather decided to stupidly compare me to the stupid…stupid idiot to bring up his morale and is going about it the entirely wrong way and-and-and if he's in knots, what the hell am I in, _huh_! Only tangles!" Chaya was almost screaming now. "I never asked for that asshole to pay attention to me – not when he decided to put me on the spot by drowning me in milk or when he figured he could get away with treating me like second class because I'm a woman or when he decided to put out his dysfunctional family out on me as though I don't fucking have anything of my own on my mind – and-and…and…"

It just kept coming, happening before she had even noticed it. Suddenly the tension was gone and she could feel that her voice was a shrill, hysterical cry and she was sobbing. " – maybe you didn't notice, with all the flirting you've been doing with whatever guy walks your way or whatever stupid thought comes into your head, but things aren't great and they aren't "not serious" as you like to say everything is and I can't just not care about everything the way you do – I do care and I'm sick of living like everything's fine and…and I don't want stuff to change – I don't want a baby sister and I don't want to be on the radio or have to endure all this stupid insults that I just don't – that I just don't care about! And I'm sick of always being in trouble and always having to see the guidance councilor who doesn't help me anyway and…and…I just _hate _everything!"

Everything that had happened to her in the past few weeks was coming out and Miyami was hugging her and she was just screaming into her friend's shoulder, pressing her face into her friend's shoulder. She vaguely heard Miyami patting her back and comforting her and yelling at some passersby about it not being a show. After a few moments where all she could feel were the shuddering sobs that were wracking her body, it all of a sudden occurred to her that the tense, stuck feeling that she had been feeling for so long…was gone.

Tense and carefully, she pulled away from her best friend and stared at her through blurry eyes, sniffling. Miyami grinned at her weakly, pulling a small pack of tissues from her schoolbag and handing them to Chaya. "Feel better?"

Chaya let out a half-laugh, half-sob and accepted the tissues, nodding. She could feel the curious stares of some freshman that were passing but ignored them, blowing her nose. She knew that her face was red and that there was a large, wet spot of tears and probably drool from her open-mouthed screaming on Miyami's shoulder – but didn't really care at the moment.

"You wanna go to the bathroom or something?" Miyami suggested, and Chaya shook her head, using the rolled up tissue in her hands to wipe her eyes. She was still shuddering as she breathed, but it wasn't as hard now.

Miyami leaned forward and smiled, still patting Chaya's shoulder. "Now come on, nothing's that bad, right? You're just uber-stressed, I'm sure of it. Let's tackle all of this in pieces okay – I thought you wanted a baby sister?"

"I-I do," Chaya stuttered, pulling her knees up and talking into them. "But I don't want change. I don't want to suddenly have my parents have another child that they decide takes precedence over me – call me selfish, but I've just had enough of that from Becky. And now they expect everything from me and it's almost like Max gets off with and away with everything and they're seeing me as their child in the wrong way. It's like, I didn't exist before, but now I do and only because I'm old enough to be ordered around to do what they want and watch out for her when she'd born. I have enough of a lack of communication with my mother as it is, but now it's going to be ten times worse."

"You'll be fine," Miyami assured her. "You're the one that's always boasting that you work well under pressure, right? Besides, by the time the baby comes you're going to want to watch out for her long before your parents have to tell you to. Right?"

"I guess…"

"There we go! And about the radio show – you can always quit! You're only an alternate anyway. In a worst case scenario, you'll just have to stick in there until Christmas and you're good!"

The burden lifted somewhat and Chaya felt the corner of her mouth tug upwards.

Miyami adopted a motherly look, although the grin ruined it. "And about Tala – do I have to tell you, Chaya Mizuhara, my best friend who is the tongue-lashing queen, that you should just ignore him? Come on, you're the one that doesn't care what people think, remember?"

"Yeah, yeah," the blond sighed, nodding a little.

"Are you feeling a little better now?" Miyami asked, cocking her head to one side. Chaya paused for a moment to ponder the question, and then nodded. "Good. Because I have something to tell you and you're probably not going to like it, but you have to hear it now or you're going to get even more screwed up and keep having random crying break-down's in the school parking lot."

Chaya nodded, waiting apprehensively for her friend's words.

"I don't know exactly what's going on, but I do have an idea – and if I'm right, and I'm nearly one hundred percent sure that I am, then you have a right to be confused," the Asian girl paused, and then nodded at Chaya. "Kai likes you." Before Chaya could speak up in outrage, Miyami held up her hand. "I don't know how you did it, I don't know why he does – if you really want to know you'll ask him yourself – but somehow, the number one jerk of Bethany High has the hots for you – and it's obviously well hidden considering only two people can possibly know about it. Me because I'm me and Tala because he somehow just knows stuff about Kai. I don't even think Kai knows about it, otherwise he wouldn't be over obviously following you with his eyes or unconsciously beating the hell out of certain guys who have either hit on you or insulted you in the past."

Chaya frowned. When had this happened? Was Miyami really telling the truth or was she just really blind.

"But…I've never encouraged him or anything," Chaya mumbled, perplexed. "If anything I've tried to make things worse all the time."

"Hey, you don't even know what you did to get him to like you – maybe your discouraging tactics aren't what you think – "

"Can we please talk as though we're just considering this theory and really talking from the nearly zero percent of your unsureness about it?" Chaya grumbled. "We don't even know if – "

"So, what did you do? Did you kiss him back, like last time?"

Chaya stopped talking and frowned at Miyami, noticing immediately that she was being drowned out. "No."

"Did you do anything?"

"I yelled at him."

"Chaya!"

"Hey, it's not my fault the guy decides to up and forget about the fact that we hate each other and decide to read me sonnets or something else that crappy," Chaya snapped. "He's stupid and I hate him!"

"For kissing you? Twice?"

"No! For – just – ugh, I never asked for this!" She was feeling confused and disoriented and all around messed up. Her hand on her head, she stood up from the asphalt and looked around. "I have to go talk to Ray…"

"What? Hey, Chaya, where are you going!" Miyami yelled after her, but she ignored her best friend for once, trying to collect her thoughts. She was so…out of it. She just didn't understand anything any more.

(-)

"So, what's the deal?" Ray asked, his ginger eyes looking at Chaya warmly across the table of the diner. "You're paying bill…you never do that."

Chaya opened her mouth, and then closed it again, trying to figure out what she was supposed to tell him. She didn't even know why she had asked him to meet her in the first place. After a few jerking movements of her mouth, she breathed, calming down and looked at the Chinese boy

"Ray…why…why do you like me?"

He looked at her in confusion. "What do you mean, why? What's not to like?"

"Ray, I'm serious. Why?"

"Because…you're beautiful. Both inside and out."

"And that's…it." She tried to keep within her how disappointed she was with this answer, the sinking feeling in her stomach increasing with each second that passed.

"Uh…yeah," Ray replied, looking at her in worry. He frowned and covered her hand with his, squeezing her hand underneath his affectionately. "Chaya, is there something wrong?"

She stared at his hand for a moment, trying to figure out what was going on. Was it natural that a moment like this was supposed to be going so slowly that it seemed like it was going amazingly fast? Strangely, she wasn't feeling anything besides the same weird feelings she'd been having for weeks. There wasn't that thrill that she had gotten around Ray when they hadn't started dating yet – come to think of it, there hadn't been any trace of that since before she had left for Austria.

The memory of the casual emails and mixed messages in mind, it finally occurred to Chaya what was wrong in at least one instance of her life. She looked up at Ray, almost sadly, and began, "Ray…I'm…"

"Breaking up with me," he finished for her matter-of-factly.

She sat completely still for a moment, more shocked than anything that it had been Ray to announce what she was doing before she even knew herself.

"How did you…?"

"Oh come on, we're both smart people," the Chinese boy smiled ruefully at her, although he hadn't pulled his hand away yet. "Things have been completely warped since we started dating, let alone since you left on Exchange. It's always felt like I was just hanging out with my best friend instead of a girlfriend. And you never really were at ease with me – you got way to touchy on certain subjects and never let your guard down." He smirked sadly. "I'm not stupid, Chays. When you suggested we go out today – when the only time we go out is when I suggest it – I just had this feeling."

"Ray, I'm really sorry," Chaya murmured, feeling guilt wash over her. "It's just that…"

"Hey, no apologies," he told her, holding up a hand. "As long as we can keep friends without all the awkwardness, that's all I'm asking."

"Of course!" Chaya cried, scandalized at the thought that they might not be friends after this. "I can't lose one of the dwindling number of people that know I'm not insane. Besides – if I can't hang around with you, what'll we do about the awkwardness when your parents ask me to babysit your little sister? That'll be a nightmare…"

"Oh, look who's conceited enough to think she'll be asked back to my house," the teen teased her, poking her jokingly in the side.

Chaya stuck out her tongue. "Come on, everyone knows I'm the best with kids."

They laughed for a moment, before a silence fell between them. Ray coughed and then stood up, yawning and stretching. "Right – I take it, this is my exit part, right? The dejected ex-boyfriend leaves the diner in shame?"

"Oh, come on, Ray," she groaned.

He walked towards the door, and then turned back to her, a grin on his face, even though she could see the obvious question in his eyes. "Just so we're clear…there wasn't someone else, right?"

"Ray, if there were someone else, trust me, you would be the first to know," she told him and he grinned.

"That's comforting."

And he was gone, leaving her to stare down at her half-finished iced tea, feeling more dejected then when she had come in. His last question was ringing in her head and truthfully, she couldn't answer it.

* * *

SHORT CHAPTER, I KNOW, BUT I'VE BEEN TRYING TO GET THIS CHAPTER OUT FOR A MONTH AND HERE IT IS. CIAO FOR NOW, GUYS, 

KURINESS


	18. Sticker Corn

**_Burning in the Sea_**

Author: KuriQuinn

Title: Burning in the Sea

Fandom: Bakuten Shoot Beyblade

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade, never will and have no intention of leading a crusade to try to own them. That's too much money and too much effort. However, I do like to manipulate the characters to do my bidding because it amuses me and countless others. This is the only disclaimer you will see in this fic, so if you decide to review me saying that I didn't give credit to the real person that came up with Beyblade (Aoki Takao) I will calmly tell you to go screw yourself. That is all.

Fanfiction Disclaimer: Chaya is my own creation, as is Haley, Jennifer, Claire and anyone else that you don't recognize. Miyami Kinomiya belongs to Mags, my best friend. Aurelia Delk belongs to Band-Freak aka Lobo-Chan. Flash Jameson belongs to Flash, Iris Messana belongs to Iz.

Rating: R for language, mature themes and mature humor

Pairing: Figure it out.

Takes-Place: Alternate Universe

Summary: When you live in small town, where everything and everyone is the same, what are you supposed to do? Why, wreak whatever hell you can, of course

**

* * *

Chapter Eighteen: Sticker Corn **

If walls could talk, Chaya would probably have beaten the crap out of them for spreading any rumors that were currently circulating the school. Ever since her break-up with Ray she had been followed around by flocks of girls that she didn't even know, demanding the nitty-gritty details about who dumped who, why and the rest of the story. Some of them were actually curious, others were trying to figure out a way to snag Ray as a boyfriend, and it was these ones that Chaya tended to (rather explicitly) tell off.

Although this week was beginning to look a lot easier than the one before it, what with all of her troubles and stresses having been taken out on Miyami the week before, Chaya was still not completely back to normal. Although she was able to take the gossip at its peak, her witty, carefree attitude having returned, or at least seemingly returned, at home Chaya was completely alone again. Gamma Yoshi had finally gone off on her own, after leaving a few choice pieces of advice for Chaya that had made her blush ten shades of red and then let off every single curse that she knew, in every language she knew.

One afternoon in the first days of December found Chaya slumped over in Miyami's room, a pout etched into her features as she glared at the ceiling. Miyami's room was almost empty of furniture and displayed in an artistic manner. There was a mattress on the floor where her friend slept, a dresser and a closet in one of the corners. Other than that, the room was empty, save for the walls that were plastered in a collage of pictures and posters of anyone and anything Miyami liked.

"This stupid break-up is killing me," Chaya whined, tossing a random ball that she had found under the couch in Miyami's basement. "And it wasn't even a horrible one, like the ones you read in novels."

Miyami shrugged from her place in the corner where she was surrounded by books and papers that constituted her homework.

"Meh, just lucky I guess," she mumbled. "Hey, do you know what the hell is keeping the guys?"

"I think they discovered the refrigerator," Chaya said in a grumbling voice. "Or Keith's porn collection, whatever's closest at hand…"

"I heard that," Miyami's older brother said, a pout in his voice as he strode into the room, tangerine eyes glinting lecherously. "And you're just lucky that you're a blond, or I'd have had to pound you."

"Whatever, hon, now where's the rest of the band?"

"Here," Ray said, sounding miserable as he stalked Miyami's room, his electric guitar slung over his shoulder.

"What's wrong?" Chaya asked. "Stalked even more so than usual?"

"That too," the Chinese boy replied glumly. "It's Johnny. He's been practicing his comedic material since we left school, and I've been the only one to hear all forty-seven consecutive bad jokes."

"Ouch," Chaya winced, sympathetically. She and Ray exchanged glances before he went to sit next to Miyami, who had started untangling the cord that hooked up her bass to the amp. Once that was done they, had Ray and Keith carry it down to the garage.

They had barely arrived there, when Tyson finally showed up, Johnny in tow, an annoyed and murderous look on his face as he stalked over to his own bass. Johnny was chatting animatedly, unaware of the suicidal effect he was having on the others.

"Oh, I have another one!" he cried out. "Why are ducks so funny?" Without waiting for the answer that wasn't coming anyhow, he moved on. "'Cause they're always quacking jokes!"

"Ugh, I think I'm going to be sick," Miyami groaned.

Chaya blinked.

"I get it," she said slowly. "It's funny because ducks don't have the brains necessary to tell a joke!"

"Actually, Chays, it just wasn't funny," Ray said, looking at his band mate with disgust.

Johnny looked up, mock insulted.

"Say what? Why?"

"Because you lack the brain necessary for telling jokes," Miyami rolled her eyes.

"Oh come on, Yami, you know I'm hilarious," Johnny fluttered his eyelashes innocently. The silver haired girl made a face at him. "Well, I'm not going to give up until you at least smile at one of my jokes."

"Which won't be happening anytime soon," Chaya grinned, nodding at Ray and Tyson.

"Okay, okay, I got one!" Johnny cried triumphantly. "Why did the aardvark cross the road?"

"To beat up the idiot telling jokes about," Miyami replied scathingly.

Everyone but Miyami and Johnny burst out laughing at the look on Johnny's face and Chaya smirked over at the redhead. She had noticed that he had been getting the cold shoulder from her best friend for the past few weeks and some nagging feeling was telling her it was because of the rather obvious crush Miyami had on the rather obviously dense Johnny.

Which was Miyami's own fault, Chaya was of the opinion, because Johnny wasn't perceptive enough and her best friend should have known this long ago.

"Now _that_ was funny," Tyson giggled.

"Hey McGregor, I've got a joke for you," Miyami said innocently. "Why did Johnny cross the road?"

"Why?" Johnny asked eagerly.

"Because he was running away from a very angry Miyami who was going to rearrange his face so badly that when people looked into the yearbook years later they wouldn't even remember going to school with a Johnny McGregor. Now can we get to practicing, or are you gonna keep bugging us with the stupid knock-knock jokes!"

She finally stood up, playing a few chords and tuning her guitar, a resolute look on her face.

Chaya shook her head again. She had come in feeling annoyed and now Miyami was too. This wasn't going to be a good practice…

"But if I don't practice, I won't be ready for the radio," Johnny protested even as he slumped over to the drum set.

"Well you don't go on for another five hours, so you'll have time to practice," Ray shrugged.

"Oh, no, didn't I tell you?" Johnny looked innocently up at them. "Flash and I got busted by Clarkson for rigging the second floor with soap. We were suspended from tonight's show. I'm just practicing for next week – "

"WHAT!" Chaya yelled, glaring at Johnny as the gravity of his words suddenly sunk into her head. "WHEN THE HELL WERE YOU GOING TO TELL ME THIS!"

"Uhm," Johnny seemed to shrink within himself. "Now?"

"YOU IDIOT!" she had jumped off of her chair and grabbed her schoolbag, banging past doors and furniture as she ran out of Miyami's house. Keith watched her jet off with a calm, almost relaxed manner.

"What a nice, serene young girl she is," he deadpanned.

"Hey, I just noticed something," Johnny said out loud. "Not once has Chaya laughed at my jokes!"

"At least she listens," Miyami said vindictively. "I just tune you out…"

(-)

"So why are you late?" Steven, the radio intern over at the station asked as he and Chaya moved upwards in the elevator. "Usually you're on time."

"First off, did I mention how much I hate this job and the only reason I'm doing it is because if I don't do as my vice-principal says I'm expelled?"

"Uh, a few times, yeah, what does that have to do with you being late?"

"Because the dipshit and her sidekick Kooky McGregor didn't tell me I was working tonight," she said glumly. "That and I found out Ivanov was working tonight too and I had to throw up a few times."

Steven made a face and nodded serenely at her until she had left, and then he shook his head. "I really don't miss high school…"

Chaya walked swiftly down the plain halls, nodding at the staff members that she had met the last time.

She didn't know why she was still putting up with this. She hated working on the radio show and wished that Miyami hadn't been the one to stick her name in a draw…she also wished that the gods had actually liked her and not decided to put her on the spot due to their love of making her miserable.

She had gone to Clarkson requesting that she be taken off the show, but the woman had decided to go on with a whole spiel about what commitment was and that Chaya never appreciated anything that was done for her and how she would not be allowed to quit unless there was a valid reason. "Not to mention," the Doberman-look-alike had continued, her nostrils flaring and the ulterior motives in her mind evident by the tone of her voice, "working with someone you don't like builds character. Who knows? One day you may resolve your differences and become friends?"

Any idiot knew that this was not going to happen unless by divine intervention, but then again, Clarkson wasn't the average idiot, Chaya decided. Besides, there were other ways of getting out of this business. The radio station only funded their little project while it drew in the listeners, maybe if she stopped talking the ratings would go down and the show would be canceled?

'Nah, then Clarkson would be down my throat for the next three years, which is the last thing I need,' she thought angrily. 'I'll find another way…'

She walked into the console room, looking around at the endless gears and buttons, frowning at the thick sheet of glass that separated her from the teenager that was already sitting their, his headphones already on.

"Hey Mizuhara, you're late," Tala Ivanov smirked up at her, already wearing his headphones and leaning over the microphone as though ready to speak into it. Taller than he had been the year before, he was still as imposing as ever, smug expression hidden by cold blue eyes and long red bangs. He was twirling his chin-ring thoughtfully, and his eyes were promising that he was not going to make tonight any easier for her than he ever did. He always had to make everything a complicated game – even when he had asked her to the dance the year before, that had led to a very ulterior motive that had ultimately led her to trouble.

She decided to ignore him and sat down, jamming her headphones on and awaiting his decision on the topic.

"Oh, you're giving me the silent treatment now? I get it. You're still ticked about you're break up?" he grinned at her wolfishly, sliding a piece of paper over to her with the first topic of the night written on it, the words 'break up' in capital and bold letters.

This was a system that the two of them had worked out the time before when they had worked together. One would write down a topic to the other to go on with, and would continually add them all night. And it spared them having to talk to each other, which Chaya was fine with.

"Wouldn't you like to know," she said frostily, scribbling something rapidly on the sheet and sliding it over to him. "Well you'll just have to wait for the Cliffnotes version on the net which I'm sure will be coming out any day now."

Tala didn't even look at what she had written and read it lazily.

"Okay, but while we're waiting for that, let's talk about how well endowed I a –" he cut off and glared over at Chaya, who was chewing on her lip to suppress the laughter and looking off in the other direction. "Cute, Mizuhara, I didn't know you were interested in that kind of information."

Her face was scarlet in seconds as she glowered over.

"That is the last thing I want to think of, you pig."

"Right, that's why you wrote it."

"Just trying to make you make a fool of yourself, which I've done…"

"No you haven't, I have no problem talking about my –"

"Ugh, I don't need to hear this," she mumbled, reaching over and disconnecting the plug to both Tala's microphone and headset. "Due to technical problems, the rest of what Mr. Ivanov was going to say will be lost. Time to switch to a song, guys…"

(-)

"It's getting worse!" Chaya grumbled to Taryn as the two walked to their homeroom early the next day. "Between the two of them I'm going insane. On the radio station and at school I have Ivanov insulting the life out of me while your brother just loiters around as though he's a god or something, so I have to keep my guard up to Ivanov – and then when I run into Hiwatari he doesn't talk to me except to do weird stuff – he asks me to carry my books or walk my to class and stuff. It's the pits."

"Most girls would be happy about a guy doing that for them," Taryn raised her eyebrow. "I mean, of course it's worse for you because it's my brother, but still…"

"Can't you make him stop?" Chaya pleaded.

"Make Kai stop?" Taryn made a face. "I never figured out how…"

Chaya groaned.

"It's pissy! All of a sudden he's decided that he likes me! I don't want him to like me! I want him to hate me so that I can hate him in peace!"

"Are you saying that you're having trouble hating him?" Taryn sounded curiously amused. "That's new…"

"I never said that!" Chaya insisted defensively. "The only trouble I'm having is his making trouble for me – and not anything else!"

"So why don't you tell him this?"

"I will!"

"Good," Taryn nodded, looking slightly impressed. "Because here comes your chance…he coming this way."

If Chaya could have carried out the action that was in the middle of blushing scarlet and turning pale, she would have, but the moment she turned around and set eyes on Kai, thoughts were wiped from her mind. At the back of her mind she had an idiotic whim to hide behind the giant garbage can in the hallway.

For two seconds.

Because at the third second, he abruptly pulled something out from behind his back, dunked a bucket of said something over her head and walked away. She could hear his lackeys hooting at her and at what he'd just done, their footsteps echoing away as she shoved the bucket off of her head and blinked the sticky substance out of her eyes.

"Chaya?" Taryn's voice was somewhat tentative. She looked like she was caught between the will to go after and beat the hell out of her brother and his friends, and see if Chaya needed her help.

"That no good son of a bitch dumped glue on my head," Chaya said slowly, although for some strange reason she was grinning wider than if she had just won the lottery. "I'm going to murder him!"

* * *

And that, my friends, is that. Sorry to say, there's no other chapter after this one until next week for the simple reason that I don't have it in me. Any flamers will be the reason I don't update for two weeks, so don't mess. 

Kuriness


	19. Cat Trap

**_Burning in the Sea_**

Author: KuriQuinn

Title: Burning in the Sea

Fandom: Bakuten Shoot Beyblade

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade, never will and have no intention of leading a crusade to try to own them. That's too much money and too much effort. However, I do like to manipulate the characters to do my bidding because it amuses me and countless others. This is the only disclaimer you will see in this fic, so if you decide to review me saying that I didn't give credit to the real person that came up with Beyblade (Aoki Takao) I will calmly tell you to go screw yourself. That is all.

Fanfiction Disclaimer: Chaya is my own creation, as is Haley, Jennifer, Claire and anyone else that you don't recognize. Miyami Kinomiya belongs to Mags, my best friend. Aurelia Delk belongs to Band-Freak aka Lobo-Chan. Flash Jameson belongs to Flash, Iris Messana belongs to Iz.

Rating: R for language, mature themes and mature humor

Pairing: Figure it out.

Takes-Place: Alternate Universe

Summary: When you live in small town, where everything and everyone is the same, what are you supposed to do? Why, wreak whatever hell you can, of course

**

* * *

Chapter Nineteen: Cat Trap **

"So…you promise that I won't look like a freak?" Chaya said, sounding pathetic and whiny as Miyami fiddled with the comb and scissors.

"How many times have I told you that you'll look fine?" her friend said in exasperation. "Honestly, you've never been hung up on your looks, Chays, you'd think you had swapped brains with me…"

"Yeah well, you didn't get glue dumped in your hair," Chaya snapped, her brown eyes crackling with annoyance. Miyami chuckled. "What's so funny?"

"I dunno, maybe it was the portrait of you running blindly down the halls looking for me to help you, or the lovesick grin on your face while you were telling me what happened –"

"I DID NOT HAVE A LOVESICK GRIN!" Chaya yelled, flailing her arms even as her best friend kept her sitting on her bed.

It was early Friday morning, not even a day since Kai had dumped the huge vat of glue on her head and she'd had to hurry home to get it out. Miyami had been there since the previous evening, doing her best to listen to her friend's ranting about her hair and Kai (which seemed to be her favorite subject of late, as noticed by her friends…). Twenty washes of lavender shampoo, ten washes of white vinegar, three washes of turpentine, and one wash of olive oil later found Chaya's hair still sticking with the foul stuff, although not as bad as before. So, finally, after many loud arguments with her mother (over the turpentine smell that now permeated the house), her father (for being an idiot and getting glue dumped in her hair in the first place) and Miyami (just for the sake of arguing), Chaya had found herself seated on her bed and a slave to the scissors in Miyami's hands.

"Okay, done," Miyami grinned, leaning back. She frowned slightly. "Though you might want to wash it one more time before we leave, because the turpentine still hasn't worn off."

Chaya winced and stood up hesitantly, casting a glance at herself in the room mirror. Gone were her long blond tresses which had previously hung below her shoulders. Now, her face was framed by short bristles, her bangs choppy and longer than the rest of her hair. All her streaks had been cut out so as to minimize the apparent chunks of glue that had been entwined with her hair.

"Well?" her friend demanded, her arms crossed as she waited for praise. Chaya beamed over at Miyami.

"Dude, you're a genius!"

"What, you think that sixteen was an accident?" her silver-haired friend smirked.

"Seriously! If I had tried to do this I'd have ended up with half of my head shaved…"

"CHAYA! MIYAMI! WE HAVE TO GO!" Max bellowed from downstairs where the girls had sent him to make up their lunches…they had heard from a reliable source that the cafeteria was serving Mushroom-Meat Surprise! and had decided that it would be smarter to live until graduation then make it there as memories…

"COMING!" Chaya hollered back as she hauled off her pajama top and reached for her housecoat. "JUST GOTTA TAKE A SHOWER…!"

(-)

Chaya and Miyami found the usual group sitting by the skate park across from the school when they arrived later that morning. Iris and Johnny were arguing loudly over something, Flash hunched over so that his wavy blond hair hid his expression.

"…you idiot, don't you know not to give him vanilla pudding!" Iris snapped, her hazel eyes flashing at the other sophomore.

"Morning guys," Chaya grinned as she and Miyami joined up with the others, who stood as soon as they arrived. "How goes it?"

"It goes not well," Iris grumbled. "Johnny gave Flash his vanilla pudding."

Miyami and Chaya exchanged horror stricken glances.

"Run now?"

"Yeah."

"Leave him in the cold to freeze it off?"

"Definitely."

"GO!"

The five teenagers bolted from the spot, while Flash looked up with a crazed expression and evil grin.

"Hey guys! WAIT! Aw, you're all jerks! I wasn't going to do anything…serious, anyway," he added in a less than innocent tone of voice, before picking up his bag and beginning to follow the others.

"So did you find Harry?" Iris asked as the girls approached their lockers.

"No, but I know she's somewhere in the house," Chaya frowned. "I don't get what's so seductive to a hairless cat to be lost about? I mean, she's freaking naked and she's trying to escape the house…"

"Why didn't Miyami help you look this weekend?"

"Uh-uh, no way," Miyami mumbled. "I'm bad with animals. I had a goldfish that ran away once."

Johnny raised an eyebrow as the girls bent over to get their winter things off.

"How is it possible to…to…h-h-hho hee ze thee ai uh…"

Chaya raised an eyebrow at Johnny as he looked at her, unsure of what he was goggling at. All she was wearing was a freaking v-neck t-shirt and jeans…She grimaced at him in confusion.

"Dude, what's your problem?"

"I can translate American salivating boy talk," Iris piped up. "He says' you're fucking hot, would you sleep with him now?'"

"Hyav su," Johnny mumbled, nodding at Iris.

"You're welcome."

Chaya snorted and Miyami scowled.

"Get a life, McGregor," she rolled her eyes. "Stop making fun."

"Idiot, he's not," a deeper voice said, and a tan hand reached out to ruffle her now shorter hair. She looked up and grinned at Ray, who was smirking. "Remind me why I let you break up with me again?"

"I'm still trying to figure that out," Chaya sniggered. Miyami was glowering angrily and had marched around her best friend to smack Johnny upside the head.

"Ow!" Johnny cried, his goggle-look wearing off. "What was that?"

"Something to wake you up, dog boy. Did it hurt?"

"Yes!"

"Anything broken?"

"If I said yes, would you say you were sorry?" Johnny mumbled, looking hopeful.

"No."

He pouted.

"Fine then, no."

Chaya shook her head at their antics and opened her locker, stuffing her bag and books within.

"Hey guys, this is the last day before exams – anyone want to go have some pizza after school? We can study…"

"You buying?" Iris asked, watching amusedly as, off in the distance, Flash dive-bombed a senior with two balled up gym socks and danced out of the way of the guys punches. Chaya rolled her eyes at him and turned back to the matter at hand.

"Sure, why not?"

"Because you never pay," Miyami snorted. "Besides, doesn't studying at a pizza-place kinda defeat the point of studying? You know that we're all gonna get side-tracked…"

"No we won't." Chaya smirked. "Because I'm bringing along the class brain to help us out. Jen said she'd help out a while ago, I'll just take her up on her promise."

"How is Jen? I haven't seen her in ages," Miyami commented, looking a little curious. "For that matter, I haven't seen Haley either."

"I think they're fighting again – does anyone else wonder how they can stay friends with all the fighting they do?" Iris asked as she balanced her backpack on her knee as she tried to look for something inside of it.

"Uh…" Chaya began to answer, but was cut off as Flash pirouetted by, yelling about how burnt toast and quantum physics were going to make him immortal. The two girls watched him go, before exchanging glances.

"Attack Johnny with a pitchfork?"

"Nah, I'm thinking pyromania."

"Too easy to trace," Chaya replied. "Then again, pitchforks might give it away too."

"We could hire a hit man – anyone would be willing to murder the guy that gave Flash vanilla…"

"Those are so expensive though – and likely to go over to the dark side. You know how easily those morons sell out for more money. And that's not going to be hard considering my savings currently consists of five dollars and a button…"

Iris sent her an unimpressed look. "You're so sad."

"Ugh, don't remind me…"

The day flew by relatively quickly, at least until Chaya's last class of the day, which ended up dragging on as though each second had been stretched out to last about twenty times longer. Chaya's math class was taught by a squat old woman named Mrs. Barnett who had taught at Bethany for almost thirty years. It didn't look like she had any intention of stopping her teaching career any time soon either, and the only way she would be leaving the school would be if she was carried out dead on a stretcher.

'Not a nice thought,' Chaya thought with a yawn as she watched the senile old woman at the front of the class, 'but it might give some of us a chance at passing one day…'

"…and that's another use for system of equations," Mrs. Barnett was saying cheerfully, books clutched in one hand and chalk in the other. Chaya was leaning glumly on her arms, the lines and equations on the board really not making any sense to her. "Are there any other questions before you all start on the review packages, dears?"

Chaya felt like throwing up, glancing around the still classroom from the corners of her eyes. Even though no one raised their hands, the woman sighed and turned back to the board as though everyone had.

"Alright, fine, I'll go over it…_again_…"

The blond girl held back a groan and looked over at Taryn, who was smirking at her.

"What?"

"Just…I found out something you might want to know."

"Yeah?"

"Guess whose office is now renovated?"

Chaya blinked cluelessly, and then broke into the largest grin she'd had on her face in weeks.

"Reeeeeaaallly…?"

"Yep."

The bell rang and the students began to stand, but Mrs. Barnett waved them down.

"I have your quizzes from last week, boys and girls, and I have to say that I'm disappointed…"

It took another fifteen minutes to actually get their quizzes from the slow teacher and out the door to lunch. Taryn glanced over Chaya's shoulder and smirked.

"A seven? Wow, so you _are_ stupider then me."

"Hey!" Chaya glared. "So what'd you get, Einstein?"

"A twelve," Taryn said proudly. The quiz was out of thirty.

"Math not your strong point?"

"Shut up," Taryn grumbled. She looked up ahead and frowned. "Wait a moment, I have to give something to my idiot brother." The girl stalked forward, leaving Chaya standing a long ways behind her, watching as the goth approached her brother and his friends. They were seated around one of the windows in the hallway with two floozy girls draped over them. Chaya made a noise of disgust, wondering if they took turns with the moronic scantily clad girls.

Taryn shoved something under Kai's nose and looked up uncaringly as he saw her and took whatever it was, stuffing it into his ratty old backpack that Chaya hadn't thought would ever live to see Christmas. He waved his hand dismissively and when she walked away, looked towards where she was going.

His mouth opened slightly as a look of something akin to awe and Chaya frowned when she noticed that he was looking at her. She stuck out her tongue and whirled to her left, ready to walk away. Taryn joined her just as she watched him stick whatever it was into his hooded sweatshirt.

"What was that all about?" the blond asked, a frown deep on her face.

"He left his bus ID at home today," Taryn smirked. "Grandfather suspended him from all driving privileges when your mother called home about the glue he dumped in your hair…that and something about turpentine…"

Chaya smirked. It figured that Judy would be the one giving her a laugh today, nothing else seemed surprising…

"So, what exactly is your plan of action against Clarkson?" the Russian asked and Chaya grinned. Oh, she had plans…many plans…

(-)

"Okay guys, here's the plan," Chaya whispered, very conspiratorially. She, Miyami, Iris and Taryn were huddled around the corner from Clarkson's newly renovated office, spare paint cans and brushes in hand which they had been lucky enough to be 'lent by Janitor Jackson. "Iris, you're going to distract Clarkson – "

"Why me?" the brunette demanded, narrowing her eyes.

"Because face it, hon, you're a goody two-shoes," Miyami smirked. "Just go to her and say something like, I dunno, '_Ms. Clarkson, I'm having a lot of trouble understanding the meaning of section twelve, paragraph thirteen of the school constitution, why is it unsatisfactory to wear loafers instead of doc martins?'_ It's sure to make her angry enough to rant and use up at least twenty minutes…"

"I do not sound like that!" Iris hissed. "You're making me sound like some sort of kiss-up!"

"Well you are," Miyami mumbled, only to find herself on the receiving end of a glare. "Okay, okay, I didn't mean it…damn you're menstrual today…"

"Shut up!"

"Guys, cool it," Chaya snapped. "Team work is key for this! Like I said…Iris, you distract the bitch. Miyami and Taryn, you sneak in and bean the place with the paint –"

"And you?" Iris asked, looking suspiciously at her and then at Miyami.

"I'm going to go and get our alibi," she replied easily. "Any questions?"

"Yeah, why are we doing this?"

Chaya ignored Iris and gave them the thumbs up, before skulking off to find said 'alibi'. She'd heard that he was in detention today, so it should be relatively easy to find him…

* * *

I wanted to continue, but I figured if I left it any later, you guys would shoot me. Besides, just gives me more material for the next chapter, right? 

Ciao!

Kuriness


	20. Corkscrew Discs

**_Burning in the Sea_**

Author: KuriQuinn

Title: Burning in the Sea

Fandom: Bakuten Shoot Beyblade

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade, never will and have no intention of leading a crusade to try to own them. That's too much money and too much effort. However, I do like to manipulate the characters to do my bidding because it amuses me and countless others. This is the only disclaimer you will see in this fic, so if you decide to review me saying that I didn't give credit to the real person that came up with Beyblade (Aoki Takao) I will calmly tell you to go screw yourself. That is all.

Fanfiction Disclaimer: Chaya is my own creation, as is Haley, Jennifer, Claire and anyone else that you don't recognize. Miyami Kinomiya belongs to Mags, my best friend. Aurelia Delk belongs to Band-Freak aka Lobo-Chan. Flash Jameson belongs to Flash, Iris Messana belongs to Iz.

Rating: R for language, mature themes and mature humor

Pairing: Figure it out.

Takes-Place: Alternate Universe

Summary: When you live in small town, where everything and everyone is the same, what are you supposed to do? Why, wreak whatever hell you can, of course

**

* * *

Chapter Twenty: Corkscrew Disks **

Prancing through the corridors, she tried to ignore the annoying warmth that was rising up her neck to her cheeks, shaking her head in annoyance. This was always the tip-off that she was doing something, Chaya thought angrily, willing the pigment in her cheeks to disappear. The fact that her face turned as red as a tomato when she was angry, embarrassed or doing something she shouldn't be doing…if anyone saw her, they'd know something was up.

Now, where would they be? She knew that Jackson was hosting the detention, but not exactly which room he was in. Searching through each classroom and possibly the bathrooms was not going to be a particular fun part of the prank, but she was the one who had been in actually conniving contact with the school janitor for so long, so it was definitely her job to do.

It didn't' take her long before she turned the corner to the first tenth grade classroom and saw a huge bucket and mop propped up in the doorway, looking as though it hadn't been touched yet. Poking her head in, she noted that the classroom was empty save for those items and she felt a wash of both relief and annoyance wash over her.

Relief that the detention-ee wasn't there and annoyance that the detention-er wasn't.

"Damn it, where is the old bat when I need him," she grumbled, sliding neatly into the class, careful not to knock over the cleaning tools. It looked like whoever was serving the detention had gotten window duty. She almost felt sorry for the poor soul, having had to do the deed many times herself. Her arms still hurt whenever she thought about it.

A quick look around the room confirmed her suspicions that the janitor wasn't there and she debated with herself whether she should leave and come back in five minutes, or just stick around in one place until he showed up. Either way she'd meet up with Jackson, and staying here really was not as much effort as…

Her eyes caught upon something that made her change direction and head back into the classroom.

A backpack sat by itself on one of the desks at the front.

A very familiar backpack sat by itself on one of the desks at the front.

With the initials _K.H._ sewed carelessly on in patched writing sat by itself on one of the desks at the front.

She grinned evilly, feeling that today seemed to be her lucky day. Maybe her revenge would be much better planned than had she asked Jackson to 'mention' Hiwatari doing it. If she found something particularly incriminating to leave in Clarkson's office…

She would have laughed loud and gleefully if she were the conniving type…which of course she wasn't…very much.

Without hesitation she opened the bag and hauled out various books and stray pencils, not bothering to pick up the pencil case she dropped and rooting through his agenda. She opened up the larger compartment to the bag and her eyes lit on the burgundy hooded sweater that she had seen him wearing earlier.

Where he had put his bus ID…

Victoriously she smirked and picked the sweater out, searching through the pocket for the plastic slab. Her fingers had just closed around the card when a voice right next to her ear made her jump.

"Hey pipsqueak."

With a comical shriek of surprise, she whirled around; her hand still wrapped in the sweater, and pressed herself against the desk as though she was avoiding something that was hurtling past right in front of her at lightspeed.

"H-hiwatari," she squeaked and he sent her a look that had her heart leaping into her throat. He actually looked angry again and when he started walking towards her purposefully, his fists clenched, she instinctively backed even further into the desk.

"Never figured you as the stuttering type," he commented quietly, suddenly not a foot in front of her. For a moment he just stared at her and she thought he was just going to grab the sweater and leave – when there was the loud sound of both his hands smacking the wall behind the desk, the sound reverberating in her ears. She was stuck. He was looking at her intently with something akin to disappointment in his eyes. "I didn't really figure you as the stealing type either…"

"I'm not stealing," she said, trying to swallow her nervousness at the proximity. It was just…she was claustrophobic…and she didn't like small spaces…

…right?

"Oh?"

"I'm…checking for bombs. The really small ones that are made and put into microchips that you can sneak into school undetected and stick into the computers and blow them up without anyone knowing it was you," she rattled on, still trying to edge further away which really wasn't working for her. She moved to the side, but he followed her, trapping her with his right arm. "I mean, you're you, so I wouldn't put it past you to do something like that."

"Your ability to come up with things on the spot amuses me," he went on, still not looking as though he was going to leave her alone…let alone leave the room.

It wasn't that Chaya was afraid of Hiwatari – no way, Hell would be freezing over beneath them if that was true – it was just, the longer and closer in proximity she was to him, the more she remembered the awkward moments that has passed between them over the past year. Her face was reddening even more, although this time it had nothing to do with doing something she wasn't supposed to be doing.

"Yeah, and you running around a room with your head on fire shouting about kumquat people from beyond the moon about to eat you amuses me, but you don't see me getting my jollies off it, considering you don't do it for my amusement," she shot back, hurriedly covering her thoughts up with her usual bravado. "Now can you let me go? I don't like small spaces."

"Correction: you don't like being enclosed in a space by me."

"Well, that's true too – so can you leave me alone?"

"Ever wondered why that is?" the annoying senior didn't look as though their present predicament was bugging him at all – which, Chaya reflected, it probably wasn't. He had the upper hand in this one and was going to milk it for all it was worth. "I bet if it were any other guy you'd have kicked him in the pills and been off by now."

"I would have done that if you weren't pinning my legs to this desk," she shot back, meaningfully trying to move her legs which really were pinned to the desk.

"Oh, excuses…you know, Mizuhara, I'm beginning to think maybe you're not as averse to this as you pretend to be."

"This?" she forced the word out, trying to sound more disgusted than curious. "This what?"

"This," he said in an even lower tone, leaning nearer.

"Lean any closer and I'll have enough proof to allow me to confirm you're trying to sexually assault me."

He sniggered and shook his head.

"I'd never do that," he said earnestly, although that look was still in his eyes. He leaned near her and whispered in her ear. "I'd rather have you screaming for me, than at me."

If Chaya was prone to nosebleeds, she would have had one right then and there, but considering she didn't, all that happened was that her blood bubbled in her cheeks, and she had to fight back every response that was trying to make it to her mouth, trying to come up with one that would suit the current predicament.

"You're a sick, perverted bastard and if you don't let me go right now, I'll scream my head off and screw everyone's plans for the weekend," she threatened.

"Go ahead."

He didn't believe her! Fine, consequences and revenge be damned!

"HE – "

Her words were cut off so fast it was as though someone had flicked an off-switch and she found herself trying to fight off the sudden assault of his lips on hers, which she realized, wasn't exactly turning out the way she had planned. Every time she tried to move her face away from his, he followed her.

"Get off," she finally growled when he pulled back to give them both air, pulling her face to the side to avoid more contact that was making her skin burn. How dare he – ?

"Scream first, you said you would," he replied easily, reaching up to pull her face back to him and claiming dominion over her lips again. Her hands reached up, even though one was still surrounded by that damn sweater that had got her in trouble in the first place, and she tried to fend him off to no avail. She noticed dimly that his kissed were frantic, almost as though he was trying to get as much out of him as he possibly could in a short time. His arms were wrapped around her, crushing her own to his chest and to her horror, she found her eyes closing tightly as she conceded to the game of tonsil hockey he had challenged her to.

Teeth and tongues scraped other and somewhere along the lines she was sure she had bitten him, or vice versa, but something was drowning out the part of her that both knew and cared.

This…was…not supposed…not supposed to be…happening…

He had just lifted her back onto the desk, when the sound of someone's throat clearing to their left made Chaya jump. Her eyes flew open and she caught the amused expression of the janitor looking back at her.

In the fastest time she'd ever done anything, she had thrust upwards with her knee and hit Kai in the solar plexus, making him double over and give her enough room to escape, whirling around to glare.

"Don't you ever try that shit again," she snarled as she tripped over a chair to escape the suddenly crowded room. "Because if you do, I'll report you to…someone that could put you away for a long time!"

Furiously, she stalked from the classroom and sent Jackson a glare.

"If you tell so much as the curtains what you saw, you will die a slow and painful death. Understand?" she ordered and he shrugged, putting his hands up as though to defend himself from any onslaughts.

She was halfway down the corridor when she heard the arrogant senior's mocking voice from the classroom.

"Don't forget to wash that shirt if you're going to wear it!"

She nearly doubled over when she noticed that she was still clutching the hooded sweatshirt in her hands, which had begun to shake.

Without looking back, she broke into a run, intent to get as far as possible away from the tenth grade class room. As far as she could get away from the school…

(-)

"And this is for a job well-done!" Miyami crowed. "I'll pay for the next round, Chays, that way you don't have to spend all your Christmas shopping money on your bestest friends in the world…"

Chaya nodded uncaringly and looked down at the dwindling glass of iced-tea before her. Reflected in its round glass she saw the huge pizza that was being hurriedly demolished by the other girls.

"That was a stroke of genius," Taryn smirked. "How the hell did you manage to steal his sweater and ID? That's his favorite one, too!"

Chaya shrugged, unconsciously inching away from the sweater.

"What are you going to do with it?" Iris prompted, leaned over to look at the sweater that Chaya had stuffed into her bag just after they dumped the ID in a place that wasn't too obvious, but that Clarkson wouldn't fail to notice it.

"Well, I was thinking I could either turn it into the flag we're going to put in our new clubhouse or let Harry have it has a litter-box cozy," the blond replied in a deadpan.

The other girls dissolved into laughter, but Miyami looked confused.

"We have a club house?"

This caused even more laughter and Chaya sighed, unable to hold back a smile at her friend.

"There we go! I was wondering when you'd give up the serious act," the silver-eyed teenager smirked. Then she looked up past Chaya and her mouth cracked into a wide grin. "Hey Jen! Over here!" And then, in an act that seriously reminded Chaya of her first year at Bethany, Miyami stood up and the chair and gestured wildly until the girl joined them.

Chaya hadn't seen much of Jennifer since the summer before and had to admit that the girl had changed. Her waist length curly auburn braid and been cut off and her hair was neatly styled with barrettes. Her eyes looked a little more serious than usual, but she still had a hesitant smile on her lips.

"Nice to see you dude," Miyami grinned, before looking behind her. "Hey, where's Haley?"

"Probably at home goofing off," the redhead replied stonily. "Now, are we studying or asking me stupid questions."

Chaya and Miyami exchanged glances with each other as the table went slightly silent, and then shrugged. It looked as though Jennifer and Haley were into one of their famous fights again and probably over some stupid reason too. Best not to talk about it, because Jennifer was worse than Haley when she was angry…

"Right, I'm going to get the drinks," Miyami said in a chipper voice. "All orders in now!"

"Ice-tea."

"Coke."

"Pepsi."

"Mineral water."

"'kay," Miyami grinned and dragged Chaya up with her. "So, dude, you gotta come help me bring back the drinkage."

"Whoa – !" Chaya yelped as her best friend pulled her towards the front counter to order the drinks.

The hubbub of their table drifted away somewhat and as soon as Miyami had ordered six waters, because it was the cheapest item on the menu and she really wasn't that generous, she rounded on Chaya and crossed her arms.

"So."

"So…"

"So are you going to leave me guessing as to how you happened to come by Kai's sweater with his ID in it and come back to us looking deeply and thoroughly kissed?"

Chaya gaped. How did she do that?

"Oh come on, babes, do I look like I'm an idiot? One look at the starry-eyed blondie routine and the swollen gob tells me everything. I'm surprised no one else noticed it," she went on matter-of-factly. "Spill."

Chaya hung her head and relayed the entire episode to the silver-haired girl, who nodded and added an occasional comment when the time seemed right.

"So…what do I do now?"

"Do what I do," Miyami advised. "Don't think. You only get in trouble when you think."

"Yeah, but unlike you, I actually have things to think about," Chaya retorted. "Like how I hate this guy with every fiber of my existence and the only one he even closely ties with is Clarkson, but I can stand him more because I can tell him to fuck off without getting into trouble, but I still feel like committing murder whenever I see him and – "

"Breathe," Miyami advised. "You're rambling again."

Chaya did as she was told and then frowned.

"What am I supposed to do now?"

"Hah! You're asking me for advice on guys! I haven't held a steady boyfriend in not-ever-before-in-my-life years!"

"…I see your point."

"The way I see this, you're obviously into him, even if you hate his guts, meaning it's great because if you get into a relationship with him, you don't have to worry about going all Soap-Opera crazy if you get dumped."

"First of all there will never be a relationship because he's an ignorant, pig-headed, selfish, rich-boy-brat, womanizing jackass that can go screw himself for all I care," Chaya hissed, looking around frantically as though everyone was listening in on hers and Miyami's conversation. "And secondly, if there ever were a relationship, _I'd_ be the one doing the dumping! But there won't be a relationship because relationships are built on mutual respect and caring, and with him it's mutual hatred and indifference, which – "

"Chays, do everyone a favor and shut up," her friend said sweetly. "High school relationships are overrated and not really meant to last. If you find someone that does, good for you, but to tell it like it is from the point of view of the average American – being moi – dating's for the making out or just hanging with the opposite sex that learns more about you than any of your girlfriends. Nothing really more than that." The drinks came and Miyami balanced the tray expertly in her arms. "So decide whether you're going to gripe about this for the remainder of the year 'til he graduates or do something about it. Tell him flat out you're not interested, or…"

"Or?"

"Or book the hall-closet on the second floor because the teachers tend to avoid it thanks to Jackson telling them to stay out of his business."

"Miyami!"

"I joke, I joke…" (1)

Chaya glared after her disappearing friend, wondering if it was possible to get into trouble for murdering your best friend and then slowly coming out with the response that it was.

As maddening as her friends words were, she was right. She felt like one of the characters on those TV Sunday night series where it was all some drama over the guy next door. She'd just have to show Kai Flipping Hiwitari _exactly _what she thought of him. It was bound to make him leave her alone…

Hm, imagine…Miyami, actually making sense for once and being smart…

"Um, excuse me doll," the owner of the pizzeria said, looking at her, slightly exasperated. "Are you finally going to pay for your drinks? Because I don't got all day."

"What? Didn't Miyami – " she looked up just to see her friend laugh nervously and leave the pizzeria before groaning. "_Miyami...!"_

* * *

(1) All of you who have ever had Mr. Francis, this is for you!

* * *

There we go. Finally got that out and put in a little Chaya/Kai just to make up for the wait. 

Ciao!

Kuriness


	21. Tiebreaker

**_Burning in the Sea_**

Author: KuriQuinn

Title: Burning in the Sea

Fandom: Bakuten Shoot Beyblade

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade, never will and have no intention of leading a crusade to try to own them. That's too much money and too much effort. However, I do like to manipulate the characters to do my bidding because it amuses me and countless others. This is the only disclaimer you will see in this fic, so if you decide to review me saying that I didn't give credit to the real person that came up with Beyblade (Aoki Takao) I will calmly tell you to go screw yourself. That is all.

Fanfiction Disclaimer: Chaya is my own creation, as is Haley, Jennifer, Claire and anyone else that you don't recognize. Miyami Kinomiya belongs to Mags, my best friend. Aurelia Delk belongs to Band-Freak aka Lobo-Chan. Flash Jameson belongs to Flash, Iris Messana belongs to Iz.

Rating: R for language, mature themes and mature humor

Pairing: Figure it out.

Takes-Place: Alternate Universe

Summary: When you live in small town, where everything and everyone is the same, what are you supposed to do? Why, wreak whatever hell you can, of course

**

* * *

Chapter Twenty-One: Tiebreaker **

"So, did you hear about Kai Hiwatari getting hauled into the principal's office for trashing Clarkson's new office?" Chaya looked up at her brother from the cartoon she was watching, a strange look on her face. It was a mixture of contempt and pride, Max noticed, and he didn't waste time asking her. "You did something, didn't you?"

"Meh," she replied, going back to her television show.

"You did."

"Meh."

"Are you going to say anything other than that?"

"Meh."

"You're useless."

"We're only related."

Max smirked, glad that he'd gotten a rise out of her at last. He was a little confused at why in the heat of her greatest prank, which might see her arch nemesis suspended the next term and maybe even expelled, that she was moody and depressed. The last time she had pulled something like this she had held something akin to a house-party. Except it had only been for their close friends and had consisted of watching movies all night.

"So…is that a negative on telling me what happened?"

"Gee, look who inherited the brains…"

He rolled his eyes and sat down next to her. "Whatcha watching?"

"A TV show."

"Obviously. Which one?"

"I dunno. I'm not really watching."

"Than can I change the channel?"

"Knock yourself out, if you can find the remote."

"You lost it?"

"…"

"How could you lose the remote?"

"What makes you say I lost it?"

"Because you're you."

"Hey, just because I lost those library books…"

"And the toaster, and my basketball uniform, and the coffee-maker – "

"I get the point, Max," Chaya mumbled, ignoring her brother as he sat next to her slumped.

"Man, how am I supposed to work the TV without the remote?"

"Uh, manually?"

"Don't even joke about that, Chays."

"I wasn't joking."

"Good, because it wasn't funny."

They glared at each other, and Chaya sighed. "This is why we're related. We're both idiots."

"Hey, speak for yourself," her brother snorted and smacked her playfully on the leg. "So, ready for the big, Christmas Show?"

"No," Chaya made a face. "I can't believe I stuck with this so long. I hate working on the radio and talking to people I can't even see or hear, but they can hear me. Person-to-person communication is a wonderful thing, ya know?"

"This is the telephone thing all over again, isn't it?" her brother asked sardonically, and she jostled him roughly with her shoulder. It was one of his favorite things to tease her about and she couldn't stand him for it. It wasn't her fault that she hated telephones! She just didn't like them!

"I'm serious," she whined. "I don't like not being able to see people's expressions!"

"What about Kai Hiwitari? I bet you don't mind not seeing his expression."

"No, his I don't mind because it's usually puckered like a lemon because I just insulted him, and Max if you think pulling the question on me at random intervals is going to make me tell you what went on, you're sadly mistaken."

"I don't think I am," her brother mused, a mocking and teasing undertone in his voice. "Because you just told me plenty."

"Oh?"

"Yeah," he beamed at her. "You're in a bad mood right now because something either went wrong or something went right."

Chaya blinked and stared. "What the hell are you talking about? If something went right, I would be jumping for joy right now."

"Ha!" Max looked triumphant. "Another confession."

The blond girl glared, turned back to the television, just in time to watch Bugs Bunny thwart Elmer Fudd yet again. "I'm not talking to you anymore."

"Right…denial sets in," he grinned at her, looking like the cat that had swallowed the canary. She looked over and glowered.

"What are you on about now?"

"Hah! So much for that resolution."

It was times like these Chaya wondered why she couldn't have been born an only child. Siblings were highly overrated, and highly annoying. With an aggravated groan, she threw her head back on the couch and shouted, "Dad, Max is being a jerk!"

There was a pause, then a muffled, "Max, leave your sister alone' from above them and Chaya frowned. That had not been the response she was waiting for, and when she glanced back at Max, he was beaming at her triumphantly.

"Oh, get a dog."

"I would, but then he'd chase the cat around and annoy everyone," her twin said tartly. "So, from what I've heard, you've got a thing for Hiwitari?

"W-what!" Chaya spluttered, all of a sudden much more energetic than earlier. "What the hell are you on, Max? Who told you this?"

Max seemed to know what he'd just gotten himself into and coughed nervously, ready to back out on this one. "Uh…I made it up. I-I just thought – "

"Right," Chaya acquiesced sarcastically. "And I eat raw liver on a regular basis. You've been talking to Miyami, haven't you?"

"You mean Miyami knows too?" Max looked surprised and Chaya growled loudly.

"What the hell is with you people? Am I some kind of standing joke, or is there a blog-spot you guys go on to ponder over these things!" she demanded, grabbing a cushion from the couch and muffling her screaming curses in it. "I hate it!"

"Actually, it's kind of obvious," her brother said in a small voice. "I mean, mostly on his side, but you too recently."

"Oh really?" she demanded, an underlying tone filled with mocking anger. "And what have I 'obviously' been doing, writing sonnets to the guy I wouldn't mind kicking repeatedly in the head?"

"Well, denying it for one. You take all that time coming up with all those excuses," Max said knowledgably. "And then there's the way you sneak glances at him in the caf – "

"_I do not sneak glances at him!_"

" – and the way you turn red when he catches you looking at him – "

"Okay, that's it," Chaya snapped, dropping the cushion and getting off of the couch. "I don't want to hear about your stupid theories; damn, you and Miyami are pissing me off lately. I'm going to go catch up on last week's homework – it's better than listen to you going off on a tangent and sounding like you're doped up."

"Hey, I don't blame you, the guy's a real piece of ass!" Max called after her, ignoring the not-so-subtle flash of her middle finger on the way out. "If I wasn't with Tyson, I'd definitely – "

"I don't want to hear it, Max," his sister mumbled, and when he heard the door upstairs slam shut with unnatural vigor, he grinned, fishing the remote out from where Chaya had been sitting and getting ready to watch TV.

Tyson was right, this really was a better way of making her give him the TV…

(-)

The only reason Chaya bothered showing up at the radio station that night was that she'd heard Flash was spending the holidays in the Gaspé in Canada, and that Miyami had told her over the phone that Ivanov wasn't going to be there that night because he was in deep trouble with the school. Apparently he was an accomplice in Hiwatari's recent decision to deface Clarkson's office.

"I'm actually amazed that they're not admitting who really did it," her friend had said. "Because they obviously know. Hey Chays, wonder what's going on in their heads?"

"Actually, I'm more interested in the reproductive system of a duckbilled platypus," Chaya had said flatly before hanging up the phone. Her searching-for-comfort phone-call to her best friend had obviously turned into a dud.

"Aw, looks like you got stuck working Christmas," Steven grinned at her when she tossed her jacket and hat in a careless heap in the corner of the entrance way. "Bad day?"

"Bad life," Chaya muttered darkly.

"Well, it's about to get worse," he said in a sympathetic voice. "For you, anyway, great for us."

"What do you mean?" she watched him warily. He grinned apologetically.

"Well, you know, ratings…"

If she had been looking at herself, she was sure her eyes would have been blazing so much fire that she'd have backed away – which is what Steven did. Backed right out the door and down the hall.

Chaya swore, kicked at her coat, and then swore again. Why had she listened to Miyami? All her friend ever told her were rumors, never what was actually going on. Why wasn't Johnny in then? He could have done the show, hell, he was supposed to be doing the show! She was just a back-up!

A radio technician popped in for a moment. "Hey Mizuhara, get in there, air-time is in five minutes."

He left before she could vent her anger on him, and she was left to her own devices, stalking towards the console room as though ready to commit murder. She didn't waste time, because the minute she saw the red haired teen grinning up at her with an evil smirk, she burst out, "What the hell are you doing here? You're supposed to be doing time for the office stunt!"

"Oh, you mean the one I didn't pull?" he replied easily, his eyes gleaming at her in a way that made a chill run up her spine. "Funny how I'm guilty by association…and how Kai's bus ID just happened to be found at the scene of the crime despite him having a perfectly good alibi." His grin widened. "You're lucky that Clarkson just doesn't care about guilty or innocent."

She clenched her fists, and without replying, took her seat in her chair, an unnerving, broody silence hanging over her, pulling on her headphones. Just her luck, Ivanov was probably going to try to get her to admit on-air that she had been the mastermind behind the plot.

"Wow, I don't think I've ever seen you without a comment," his voice was mocking and she tried to ignore it.

"Okay guys," one of the radio interns said, his voice in her ears through the headphones. "Airtime in three, two, one – "

"Welcome back Jefferson and co, to the radio program with the best request line ever," Ivanov said, his voice changing from the teasing lilt from before into the smooth voice that Chaya knew had most of the girls in school out for him. "Tala Ivanov here with the gloomy and oh-so-annoying Chaya Mizuhara."

"Shove it, Ivanov," she grumbled, grabbing a sheet of paper and writing the night's opening topic down. She decided to start with cafeteria food, which was always a great thing to complain about, and a lot of the time they got phone calls in to talk about a kid's worst caf. experience ever.Tala took the paper and began to talk about the subject while she gritted her teeth, her eyes flicking towards the clock.

Over the next hour, a few mumbled grunts of annoyance and sharp twits directed at Ivanov were all she managed, the two of them shoving the paper back and forth as it steadily filled up.

"..and what's your thoughts on that, Mizuhara?" Tala smirked.

She blinked, having not been paying attention to the last topic. Steven would throw a hissy fit if he found out she hadn't been paying attention. Quickly, she grabbed the paper and read the words without thinking.

"On why I'm obviously dying to date Kai? Well becau – "

She managed to stop herself in time, her brain working on overload as it reread what she had just said. She felt everything seem to let go as numbness took over, and then the blood rush to her face.

Her eyes swiveled around to Tala, who looked as though Christmas had come early for him. Anger, mortification, disbelief and other emotions were running amok in her mind as she realized more fully that she had just said that with half the school or more listening. "_You!" _

He grinned.

"You son-of-a-bitch!"

She had never felt so angry or embarrassed in her life, and that included the summer earlier when Kai and his cronies had conspired to steal her clothing at the lake after she had been changing and she had had to walk off the beach wearing nothing but a towel.

Her fingers flexing, she felt her brain going over various means of homicide…she'd murder him. She'd kill him and not even bother to hide the body…!

…If she could bring herself to move.

"Well, Mizuhara, I really had no idea," his eyes were twinkling, and it was that that pushed her over the edge. She stood up so quickly that the chair fell over behind her with a clatter. She got ready to attack him, or at least tell him to go fuck himself, but found she couldn't manage words anymore. With an aggravated growl, she stormed out of the console room, making sure to slam the door behind her, and ignored the imploring glances from the interns.

She was halfway to the first floor when Steven stopped her, looking annoyed. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Leaving," she said simply, her ability to speak slowly returning to her. "I fucking quit. I'm not going to sit in that cramped, pathetic room anymore and have to endure his stupid, sadistic, ass-backwards sense of humor."

"Jesus, it was only a joke," the green-haired boy raised an eyebrow. "Why are you making such a big deal about it? Unless…" he grinned. "It's true then?"

"So what if it was!" she yelled. "He's still an asshole, and a conniving bastard that could drown himself for all I care, and even if I did, I wouldn't have wanted other people to find out on the radio! So fuck this stupid show, fuck what Clarkson wants me to do, I'll be expelled, because damn it, I'm still leaving!"

And walking into the coat room to grab her things, she stalked out of the building,

* * *

Well, I'm not too sure about this chapter, but at least we sorta made some headway, right? I promise, the next one should be better. 

Kuriness


	22. Streamliners

**_Burning in the Sea_**

Author: KuriQuinn

Title: Burning in the Sea

Fandom: Bakuten Shoot Beyblade

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade, never will and have no intention of leading a crusade to try to own them. That's too much money and too much effort. However, I do like to manipulate the characters to do my bidding because it amuses me and countless others. This is the only disclaimer you will see in this fic, so if you decide to review me saying that I didn't give credit to the real person that came up with Beyblade (Aoki Takao) I will calmly tell you to go screw yourself. That is all.

Fanfiction Disclaimer: Chaya is my own creation, as is Haley, Jennifer, Claire and anyone else that you don't recognize. Miyami Kinomiya belongs to Mags, my best friend. Aurelia Delk belongs to Band-Freak aka Lobo-Chan. Flash Jameson belongs to Flash, Iris Messana belongs to Iz.

Rating: R for language, mature themes and mature humor

Pairing: Figure it out.

Takes-Place: Alternate Universe

Summary: When you live in small town, where everything and everyone is the same, what are you supposed to do? Why, wreak whatever hell you can, of course

**

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Two: Streamliners **

The first Saturday of Christmas vacation loomed over the inhabitants of the Mizuhara household, and found a certain silver-haired friend sitting outside of the youngest Mizuhara member's room. She was staring at the door in a mixture of exasperation and worry. With a sigh, she rapped on the door. "Chays?" No answer, and she knocked again. "Come on, Chays, you gotta come out sometime." Still no answer.

"Chaya Mizuhara, if you don't come out in point five seconds I'll do something drastic!" the silver-eyed girl called through the door. "I'm not bluffing! I mean, I am, but I actually will do something."

Silence.

"Come _on_, Chaya!"

"Go away."

Sighing and glancing around, Miyami dug her house keys out of her pocket and jiggled them around. "Hey, look who it is! It's the ice cream man! Hello, Mr. Ice Cream Man, what's that?" She paused in the jingling and moved closer to the door, her voice rising. "Chays, he says he's got your favorite flavor!"

"Death by Chocolate?" the muffled voice behind the door asked.

Before Miyami could answer she heard footsteps up the stairs and nodded at Max, who was leading Taryn up behind him. The Russian raised her eyebrow at Miyami's position and the keys in her hand. "What's going on?"

Miyami sighed. "She's locked herself in there and won't come out for anyone. She's searching the caverns of her soul to figure out what to do about the Kai-Dilemma."

Max looked shocked. "The caverns!" He hurried over to bang on the door. "Chaya, open this door!"

There was a muffled snort and then the bedroom door opened, a sullen looking brown-eyed girl poking her head out. The three others entered the room, while she looked around outside. "There's no ice cream man."

"I know, hun," Miyami said sympathetically.

"You lied to me."

"Kinda had to, sweetie. You've been depressive for two days now."

"I have not. Depressed people lie in their rooms alone with all the lights out. My lights aren't out and the windows are open."

Max rolled his eyes. "That's still depression."

Chaya gave him one of her best die-where-you-stand looks, then stomped over to her bed and plonked down onto the mattress. Sometimes Max was so hard to bear…scratch that, he was often hard to bear.

"Hey, you're no walk in the park yourself," her twin snapped, making her realize that she had said that out loud. Hm. Maybe it was getting bad, considering she couldn't distinguish between thoughts and speech…

"I think you're just making a big deal of this," Miyami commented. "I mean, if you shrugged it off like any normal person, you'd be indifferent. But the way you're acting, you'd think someone got a really big secret out of you."

Chaya sent her friend a look that clearly said, 'We've been through this before', but didn't manage to complete it as Taryn straddled the chair nearby and looked over at Chaya. "Did you think about killing him?"

"Well, yeah, lots of times," Chaya shrugged. "But I'd never get away with it because I'd be the prime suspect for the murder and I don't want to get myself locked in jail until I'm thirty."

"Only thirty?" her brother deadpanned.

"Shut up, Max."

"I got an idea," Taryn nodded over at her. "Tomorrow night I'm having a party for Christmas. I've invited some old friends and some new vones. You should come."

Chaya made a face. "No offense, Tar, but your house is the last place that I want to be right now."

"Och, get over it. Kai isn't going to be there anyhow, he's spending the day with that idiot friend of his, what's-his-name, Ivanov. Probably going to spend it getting drunk and laid. He won't be home until late, and by then you'll probably have left."

Chaya didn't reply, her face arranged in a look that suggested she would rather spend an entire week in detention than go anywhere near where Kai Hiwatari might have been at some point.

"Do you really have anything to lose?" Miyami asked her incredulously, and Chaya shrugged.

"Guess not…"

(-)

It turned out that the Miyami-Taryn-Max intervention turned out to be the best thing that happened to her, Chaya thought absently as she hammered at the controls of Taryn's Playstation. She was beating Ray's ass at Grand Tourismo Three as the entire group sat in the rec. room in the basement of the vast Hiwatari manor.

"How the hell are you doing that? I got a frigging Viper!"

"Well, one day you will learn that Benz's are the best around," Chaya smirked as she flicked her thumbs over the controls, moving her Mercedes Benz Kompressor around the race track. "And possibly that reversing in a race is a stupid thing to do."

"Shut up."

"I speak only the truth, Ray-man."

In the background, Haley was trying to restrain Flash, who seemed to be going insane after sampling the vanilla pudding that Taryn had left in the kitchen. The blond boy had a crazed look in his eyes as he tried to escape, zeroing in on Taryn's cat Armistice and the pool cubes on the wall.

Taryn was talking languidly with Miyami's older brother Keith, who seemed to be trying to flirt or at least convince her into a make-out session with him, and it wasn't working. Tyson and Max had disappeared at some point ten minutes after they arrived, but considering no one was going anywhere near the hall-closet, it was safe to say they were located.

Johnny was attempting to get either Miyami or Iris to walk under the mistletoe sprig above the kitchen, but both were too intent on fighting over which Christmas CD they listened to. So far, Celtic Christmas seemed to be winning out, but Iris looked intent to change it to traditional holiday.

It didn't seem to bug anyone that the music would go on for some time, and then stop abruptly in the middle as one of the girls changed the CD's.

Chaya cheered loudly as she came in first place, her voice drowned out only by the pseudo cheers on the television screen, and Ray's cursing. She grinned at him and did a victory dance.

"Who da woman? Who da woman?"

"Who da grammatically challenged idiot," the Chinese boy mumbled under his breath, although he was grinning at Chaya. "Well, I guess at least one of us will be able to drive."

"What are you talking about 'will be able'?" Chaya demanded. "I can already! I saved all your butts last Halloween when we pranked Clarkson, _and_ I took the rap. If it hadn't been for my wonderful driving skills, you'd all have been grounded for life!"

Ray smirked at her. "Just keep telling yourself that."

"Alright, I will."

"Truth or dare!" someone yelled in Chaya's ear and all of a sudden she found herself being dragged across the room by a very hyper Flash, who proceeded to dance the polka with her through the entire room until everyone had looked up.

Evidently, he hadn't gotten over his vanilla-high…

An hour later, the room was a complete disaster of hair moose, shaving cream, empty lipstick tubes, cheese foam, chips and popcorn kernels. Everyone was in various states of weirdness.

Miyami and Iris were making faces as they shared the same huge sweater thanks to a dare from Keith, and Ray was covered in coca-cola from Johnny having dared him to shake it and then stare right into it as he opened it. Taryn wore a crown of shaving cream on her head, which matched Keith's shaving cream beard. Chaya and Max had been told to swap their clothes, which really didn't change much in their looks other than the fact that Max was the one wearing the plaid kilt now. Tyson's entire face was covered in lipstick and chips. Haley was still going around the room backwards on all fours, looking very much like a crab, while Flash, whose entire face was covered in pizza toppings from the dare Chaya had given him to flirt obnoxiously with the pizza-delivery-boy, was grinning evilly at Johnny, who had yet to do anything remotely embarrassing.

He had continually chosen 'truth', but slipped up on the last one.

"Hurry up, ya freak, I don't have all day," the redhead grumbled, watching uneasily as the crazed blond boy's grin widened.

"I dare you…to french the cat."

"What!" everyone chorused, and across the room, Haley fell over backwards, laughing hysterically.

"No fucking way," Johnny growled. "Consequence?"

"You let everyone hear get a free kick at your pills," Flash was grinning even wider now and Chaya felt a choking laugh take over her. They all knew which one Johnny was going to do…

"Where the hell's the cat?"

Taryn looked torn between standing up for her pet and laughing at Johnny, while Chaya stood up. "I'm going to need a camera for this particular event…got one, Tar?"

"Uh…in the kitchen on the left. Top drawer next to the fridge," the girl said, her words telling of her intent, although the look on her face still made her out to be worried for her cats' well-being.

Still laughing, Chaya wandered through the halls to the kitchen, ignoring the gluttonous mess of pudding, chocolate sauce and icing sugar that was covering almost every inch of the vast kitchen. Swabbing a finger through the mess of chocolate and sticking it in her mouth, she searched through the drawers for what Taryn had described to her.

The camera was a disposable Polaroid that Taryn had probably bought just for the hell of buying, a one-time deal. Chaya grinned, taking it out quickly and whirling around to return to the rec. room.

Her way was blocked by a certain someone that seemed to have come in through the back way and was looking at her, amused. "Hey, Blondie, what's up?"

"I have nothing to say to you," she said coldly, pushing past him and stalking back to safety, where she could hear the chants of her friends, egging Johnny on to french the cat, at the subsequent yowling protests of the animal as it was picked up off of the floor roughly.

She was going to miss it.

"Well, there's something you have to hear," she felt his hand close around her wrist and she was suddenly face to face with him again. And for once, he looked serious. And solemn. "I'm sorry."

"For what? Being an asshole? I don't think I'm the one you apologize to for that," she said sarcastically, trying to wrestle her hand out of his.

"You know what I mean, idiot," he frowned at her. "I told Tala to do that – because he told me about how you guys write notes and stuff – it was a joke and I was a total dipshit for getting him to do it…but you gotta admit, it was pretty original." The corner of his mouth seemed to tug upwards and she glared.

"You're not good at apologizing, are you?"

"No, actually, this is the first time. How am I doing?"

"You suck," she replied, pulling away again, but when he didn't let her go she raised the Polaroid and clicked the button, surprising him for a moment with the flash. As he blinked, loosening the grip on her wrist, she managed to escape, returning to the room.

The picture flittered to the ground, but she didn't pick it up, managing to appear in the room just as Johnny had lowered his lips to the poor cat's.

As everyone broke out into laughter, she quickly snapped the picture, managing to capture Johnny's look of confusion and horror before the cat swiped a paw at him and managed to make claw-marks on his cheek before leaving.

"Ya bitch!" he yelled furiously, although no one was sure whether he was talking about the cat, or Chaya.

"Damn it!"

Everyone was laughing and Chaya felt someone's arm drape around her shoulder. "Well, McGregor, I never knew you had it in you. Kind of expected it, though."

"Fuck off, Hiwitari," Johnny snarled, as Miyami laughingly put a tissue to his face, telling him between chuckles that it wasn't serious.

Before Chaya could shrug him off, he had removed his arm and was getting ready to cross the room. A loud shout stopped him. "Kai and Chaya are under the mistletoe!"

It was times like these that Chaya cursed both predictability and brothers. They were both a lethal combination, and she was already plotting the many ways to kill him.

"You're point?" she demanded.

"Smooch it up!" Tyson yelled.

"After you, douche bag."

"Not the one under the mistletoe, Blondie."

"Not the one that's going to be incapable of reproducing, chip face."

"No intention of it, remember?"

"Can't really forge – "

She never managed to finish the sentence as she felt her chin being inclined over to the side, and suddenly soft lips descended onto her own. They didn't even connect, really, considering it was a mere brush of his lips against the corner of hers.

A different shock from all the others paralyzed her. This kiss was the first gentle one that Kai had ever given her, and although it really lasted about a second, to her it seemed like longer.

There was total silence when he pulled away, smirking at her. "You had stuff on your face, loser. Try a bar of soap next time."

And before she could even entertain the thought of hitting him, he had crossed the room and she could hear his footsteps going up the stairs.

The silence grew, and she felt all the blood rush to her face both in anger and something else. Turning to her friends as though daring to them to say anything, she managed to walk across the room as well, her knees shaking. "Tar, I'm going home. I'll see you guys around."

And then, grabbing her coat, she went to the porch to put on her boots.

Behind her, the silence was broken suddenly, by the one who had instigated it all. "Chaya! I need my clothes back! I can't walk home in a skirt!"

* * *

There! MWaha! I was in a sappy mood, and you can all tell, but that's okay! 

Until next chapter,

Kuriness!

And in answer to some of your questions, yes, I do use a lot of quotes from Boy Meets World. They just work. Of course, when I redo this series for real I'll have to get rid of them, but for now…meh.


	23. Leg Stretcher

**_Burning in the Sea_**

Author: KuriQuinn

Title: Burning in the Sea

Fandom: Bakuten Shoot Beyblade

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade, never will and have no intention of leading a crusade to try to own them. That's too much money and too much effort. However, I do like to manipulate the characters to do my bidding because it amuses me and countless others. This is the only disclaimer you will see in this fic, so if you decide to review me saying that I didn't give credit to the real person that came up with Beyblade (Aoki Takao) I will calmly tell you to go screw yourself. That is all.

Fanfiction Disclaimer: Chaya is my own creation, as is Haley, Jennifer, Claire and anyone else that you don't recognize. Miyami Kinomiya belongs to Mags, my best friend. Aurelia Delk belongs to Band-Freak aka Lobo-Chan. Flash Jameson belongs to Flash, Iris Messana belongs to Iz.

Rating: R for language, mature themes and mature humor

Pairing: Figure it out.

Takes-Place: Alternate Universe

Summary: When you live in small town, where everything and everyone is the same, what are you supposed to do? Why, wreak whatever hell you can, of course

**

* * *

Chapter ****Twenty-Three: Leg Stretcher **

Thankfully, threats worked wonders.

None of the people that had been to Taryn's Christmas get-together mentioned anything about what had happened the day that school recommenced. In fact, all of them except for Miyami and Max avoided her like the plague right after she made a few well-chosen remarks that held the promises of blackmail in their underlying meanings.

Chaya sighed as she glanced at her friend from the corner of her eye. She kind of wished that Miyami was one of the people avoiding her, because her friends' smirk seemed to widen each time she caught sight of Chaya.

Cocky bitch.

"You know – "

"Shut up, M'yami, I don't want to hear it." She frowned more fully, fiddling to the ties of the sweater she was wearing. She wondered if she could tighten them to the extent that her face was completely hidden from the world.

She felt as though the holidays had been much too short and she really didn't want to be back at school. Especially not since she kept getting taunts from the people who had listened to her colossal screw-up on the radio.

"Too bad, you're gonna. You shunned me all of the holidays long so I couldn't say it, so I'm saying it now."

"Doesn't mean I'll listen." Chaya squinted into her agenda, staring at the scribbled notes she had made under her Biology homework – apparently today's class was going to be substituted in the study hall with another class. This was some good news at least, considering it meant she wouldn't have to do too much work.

"Come on! Give him a chance! I saw that kiss, you know, amongst the other lesser mortals. From what I know about Kai, he's never gentle. And he was treating you as though you might break – or that you might sock him. Either way he was gentle…"

"Yeah, I know," Chaya muttered to herself, and then cursed when Miyami laughed loudly and yelled. "TOLD YOU! I KNEW YOU WERE LISTENING TO ME!"

The blond gritted her teeth, wanting to throttle Miyami for attracting even more attention to them. The other girl noticed this and lowered her voice, coughing nervously. "So…"

"So what?"

"So even after that do you still hate him?"

"Yes."

"But you like him too."

Chaya made a noise in her throat as though beginning to say 'no', but knowing full well that Miyami knew as well as anyone who had heard her at the radio station that it was a lie and stopped talking completely.

"And are you going to do anything about it?"

"Like what?" she scorned.

"Jesus, you're so damned stubborn! Do you even have a good reason anymore other than you hold grudges?"

"What do you mean, 'anymore'! The reasons – that's 's' as in plural – are still the same." Chaya hefted her bag over her shoulder to keep a good grip on it.

The bell rang, making the two girls jump as the loud noise seemed to shatter their eardrums, and Miyami sent her an exasperated look. Neither of them moved to join the rushed of students who were hurrying to class. "I don't get you, man. You obviously like _something_ about him, considering you let him get away with kissing you – "

"I didn' – "

" – and you complain about him daily, obsessing over all the crap he's done to and for you – I mean, I heard from that Steve kid that you basically admitted it out lou – "

Chaya's cheeks colored. "How did you get that information? And since when did you become my psychiatrist?"

Miyami looked suddenly uncomfortable. "Since you stared paying me a buck a day."

Chaya blinked. "But…I'm not pa – Miyami!"

"Whoops, I've got class! Bye Chayz…"

"MIYAMI!"

"Chaya, why are you wasting time out of my class hollering in the hallway?" the annoyed voice of Chaya's substitute teacher demanded, prancing into the hallway. "My class began five minutes ago."

"Coming," she mumbled, trudging into the class. Her shoulder slumped even more when she saw that the only seat left was the one next to Kai Hiwitari, who it seemed, Fate had decided to put into the class that would be enduring the substitution together.

Well, what the hell was she expecting? Life, reality and karma seemed to have formed some kind of neo-Axis against her. She was surprised there wasn't some kind of formal war declaration. She didn't even bother questioning it anymore, she decided as she sat down wearily, ignoring the senior as blatantly as he was ignoring her.

"Mrs. Cranmer's English class, you have your work to do – my class, we will be beginning the section on the nervous system today, so you can put your books away. I'll be writing notes on the board and then we'll take a look at some transparencies," Ms. McCallum said, flipping her hair over her shoulder and putting together all of her materials that were going to be needed that class. "Homework will be a packet of stencils…"

Chaya cursed, her bid to do some of her own work dashed by McCallum's ideas. She yawned and opened her copybook, not bothering to jot down the notes, but began to draw little doodles of stick people committing various acts of pyromania on a familiar looking stick-figure's head.

She ignored the first poke in the wrist that she received from him, as well as the second. The third warranted a glare sent in his direction, and the fourth made her reach over, grab his pencil and toss it across the room into the recycling bin while their teacher's back was turned. It seemed she had fixed the problem, when all of a sudden she wasn't just looking at her copy-book, but a piece of hole-punched paper that had been ripped from somewhere, gleaming red words in permanent marker glaring up at her.

_'Nice sweater.' _

She froze for a moment, her brain not functioning as it turned to words over and over in her mind. It seemed she was unable to make the connection as to what he meant.

Frowning, she looked down, examining the burgundy hooded sweatshirt that she had picked out of the pile on her floor that morning and felt the bottom drop out of her stomach at the same moment that the blood rushed to her face.

Her eye's examined him from the corner of her eyes through her bangs, ignoring the amused smirk that was on his face. He wasn't looking at her, but at the teacher, and she hurriedly looked away.

How the hell had she been so stunned as to not notice that she had grabbed his sweater? Hadn't she tossed the thing the minute she got home and made Harry a bed out of it?

She narrowed her eyes. Max or Judy must have rescued it, washed it, folded it, placed it on her bed and gravity in her room being what it was, it had ended up in the sea of clothing that she usually swam through in the morning to find her stuff.

She looked down again and nearly jumped when she saw another message gleaming upwards.

Damn it, how did he do that, it was like Ghost Writer. (1)

_'Looks better on you anyway.'_

If her cheeks had been red before, it was nothing compared to what they were now.

Making sure that the teacher was once again writing on the board, she scribbled down a messy message next to his neat ones: _Stop it. _

Not that she really expected him to follow it, she decided grimly, but she wasn't giving into anything without a fight.

There was a flurry of movement on her desk as he wrote something down quickly, while she watched to make sure that the coast was clear. She expected some wise-ass comment about how she couldn't make him or how it was freedom of speech or something like that. She even expected a crude insult directed at her. What she didn't expect was the neat, to-the-point message asking her, '_wanna see a movie with me this Friday?_'

She couldn't help it. She gaped.

What the hell was he thinking? She had made it pretty obvious that she didn't want anything to do with him. Other than the fact that yes, she was attracted to something about him, he was a goddamned jerk that she didn't want to start any type of relationship with.

Okay no, that was wrong, she reasoned. She liked the strange, wacky relationship they'd had before. The one where they spent weeks plotting each others demise with all out pranks, set-ups and the odd food fight. Not to mention, it was fun to try to out-blame each other in Clarkson's office when it came to owning up to their deeds. So what if he was the best kisser she'd ever come across (sorry Ray!) in her short dating spree or that despite their differences they did technically have a lot in common.

Hypothetically speaking, if they did start to go out, how far along the line would it be that she got dumped by him because something new sparked his interests? The guy wasn't exactly the most faithful boyfriend you could ever have…for god's sakes, he had been dating three girls in the same week for the same week not three months ago! He just liked her because he couldn't have her. The minute she gave in, he'd do what he wanted and move on.

'Okay, I'm not that paranoid', she reasoned with herself with a frown. 'If that did happen I could clobber him again no sweat, plus I'd have my friends to back me up…but I don't want a boyfriend that completely brushes me off…then again, I somehow don't see him as the brush-off type…'

She shook her head quickly, as though trying to shake away her thoughts, and whispered out of the corner of her mouth, "Go away."

Yet another unexpected thing happened. Instead of pushing her into it with more messages, some annoying pleading and offers to buy her off, he shrugged and actually went back to his notes.

She made a face as she watched him concentrate on his work, going back to her own not-even-close-to-started page of notes.

Oh, so he was ignoring her now? Hah! Wasn't going to work.

…

…

Then why was she getting so annoyed? She drummed her fingers impatiently against the desktop, waiting for him to turn back to her and smirk in his usual self-satisfied manner, but he just kept writing.

'Damn it, look up, you idiot – the hell? Wasn't I just ratting myself out and saying how much I didn't want anything to go on, and here I am trying to get him to pay attention to me like some flirty twit? When did I become such a hypocrite? Oh yeah…about the time when I kissed the bastard the first time…and then the second time. Oh, and the third…well now, aren't I in just a great fucking big mess – '

"Chaya, is that a note?"

She jumped so quickly she was amazed at her own speed. In less than a second she had grabbed the note and jabbed it into her pocket, looking up at the teacher in a fiercely constructed look of innocence. "Is what a note?"

"Don't play dumb, I saw the note," the teacher's eyes narrowed. "You know the rules. All notes in class are to be confiscated and the guilty parties get detention – study hall is still a class."

"Of course I know the rules," Chaya retorted. "But I don't see how they apply to me. I don't have a note."

"Don't lie to me, Chaya, I saw it."

"Got any proof?" she was sweating now. There was no way in the seven hells that she was passing in this particular note. And if Ms. McCallum insisted, she'd be making a bee-line for the window. "I mean, how do I know for sure you saw what you saw?"

"Nice try. Kai saw it, didn't you?" the woman raised an eyebrow at Kai, sure that he wouldn't pass up a chance to get the other student into trouble.

"Hiwatari couldn't have seen it, if there was none," Chaya protested.

"But there was."

"Would it be at all possible for me to speak for myself?" the slate-haired teen asked testily, drawing looks from everyone. Chaya paled while her teacher nodded, the look in her eye clearly showing her thoughts. Everyone knew of the tension and bad-blood between Chaya and Kai, he wouldn't pass up a chance to ruin her life…

For a long moment he just looked at her, his face blank in a way that Chaya couldn't read his thoughts.

There was a pause.

"There was no note."

Chaya was shocked. McCallum was shocked. The class was just confused.

"Wh-what?"

"No note," Kai shrugged, leaning back and looking up at the large clock that hung in the room. "So I guess no one gets detention. And nothing can get confiscated."

McCallum glared, rounding on Chaya. "I saw what it was, I don't care what you say, and you will hand it over to me right now or you will both be going to see Ms. Clarkson."

Chaya shrugged, working hard to maintain her smart-ass swagger. "I can't turn out what isn't there. And you can't send me to the office without a valid reason."

McCallum looked as though her head was about to explode, and with a huff, she whirled around and continued to teach the stunned class, who were torn between believing that their teacher was going insane and the story that Chaya Mizuhara and Kai Hiwitari had actually collaborated on something. No one knew what was more believable.

Chaya exhaled the breath she hadn't even known she'd been holding, and ignored the wink that she was getting from Kai. This was his entire fault! If he hadn't been writing the damn notes, she wouldn't have had to go through all of that!

Of course if she'd just stop trying to avoid the question and dodge the obvious it would be easier, but since when was she known to take the easy way out?

Never.

'Not exactly the best answer,' she thought, annoyed, hurriedly scribbling down everything she'd neglected to do during the most of class. Sometimes she wondered why she was so lazy when it came to class…

The rest of the period passed without much fuss, and when the bell rang, Chaya and Kai were kept behind the receive detention slips from McCallum for being rude to her in class. Chaya wanted to argue her case and point out that defending their rights as students wasn't 'rude', but decided that she was in enough trouble for one day; there was no point in aggravating the event further…so she took the ugly pink slip without argument for once and followed the taller student out of the class.

"And they say we live in a free country," she grumbled to herself as they left the class, closing the door behind them. She figured McCallum wanted to be alone for a few moments to tell into a drawer or mailbox or something like that. (2)

Kai turned around and looked down on her for a moment, as though debating something. She froze, recognizing the look in his eyes, and hurriedly glanced around to make sure that there was no one around to see anything. Not that that was a good thing or anything.

Briefly, he reached over and brushed her bangs out of her eyes, trailing his fingers back over head and behind her ear in an affectionate gesture, his fingers over her scalp making her skin tingle and send little shocks throughout. He smirked at her wide eyes, then turned around and walked away without turning back.

"Damn," she muttered, feeling her knees wobbling slightly.

She was partially furious with herself for being such a weak idiot and partially furious at him for being such a jackass that he hadn't kissed her like she thought he was going to.

'I think I'll kill the entire male race,' she mused, fixing her bag again and walking in the opposite direction. 'Or at least most of them, and use the rest for breeding. And anyone that smirks at girls like that and make them think they're going to kiss them will be castrated.'

"Hey Chaya!" she looked up, noting in surprise that Ray was running down the hall towards her. He was the first other person from Taryn's party to come near her all day.

"Yo?" she grinned weakly.

"Uh…look, I have a favor to ask you," Ray began nervously as he approached her.

"Yeah, sure, anything," she nodded, happy to be given the chance to forget about Kai Hiwitari for the moment.

"It's about Ying Fa…"

She tensed and narrowed her eyes.

"Anything but that…"

* * *

(1) I dunno about you guys, but this was an amusing book as well as a TV show I think a few years ago. 

(2) Flintstones analogy. Maybe you'll get it. Maybe you won't.


	24. Decoy Play

**_Burning in the Sea_**

Author: KuriQuinn

Title: Burning in the Sea

Fandom: Bakuten Shoot Beyblade

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade, never will and have no intention of leading a crusade to try to own them. That's too much money and too much effort. However, I do like to manipulate the characters to do my bidding because it amuses me and countless others. This is the only disclaimer you will see in this fic, so if you decide to review me saying that I didn't give credit to the real person that came up with Beyblade (Aoki Takao) I will calmly tell you to go screw yourself. That is all.

Fanfiction Disclaimer: Chaya is my own creation, as is Haley, Jennifer, Claire and anyone else that you don't recognize. Miyami Kinomiya belongs to Mags, my best friend. Aurelia Delk belongs to Band-Freak aka Lobo-Chan. Flash Jameson belongs to Flash, Iris Messana belongs to Iz.

Rating: R for language, mature themes and mature humor

Pairing: Figure it out.

Takes-Place: Alternate Universe

Summary: When you live in small town, where everything and everyone is the same, what are you supposed to do? Why, wreak whatever hell you can, of course

**

* * *

Chapter ****Twenty-Four: Decoy Play **

Chaya shivered, burrowing even further into her thick winter coat to escape the crisp January air, frowning enviously as she watched the joyous Ying Fa bound curiously around the snow-covered park, obviously ignorant of the temperature.

Poor Ray, she sighed, watching her breath rise into the air in steady wisps of steam. He's been cornered by Taryn to help organize the Arts Festival and hadn't been able to leave. Chaya had owed him anyway, so she didn't mind watching his little hellion of a sibling. She just wished the little monster didn't move around so much.

Her eyes trained in the overeager child, she sat down on a cold, damp park bench, glad that she'd been able to find a spot that wasn't completely covered in snow. She pulled her coat hem up over her nose, breathing warmth down her shirt (ignoring the fact that she was technically poisoning herself with exhaled carbon dioxide…who needed science class anyway?) and shoved her hands into the pockets of her jeans.

A long moment passed and she found herself fastening her figners around the note that had been burning a hole in her pocket all day.

_'Nice sweater. Look's better on you any way. Wanna see a movie with me this Friday?' _

What if she had said 'yes'? A part of her (larger than she wanted to admit) had really wanted to. It was the reason she had answered neither with an affirmative response or a negative one. The small part of her that didn't like Kai at all was holding onto a thin line that was holding it all back. Okay, granted, he was intelligent and had a lot of the same outlooks on life as she did…but he was _Kai_! Wasn't that enough said?

In the long run, just ignoring him was the right thing to do. It would save a _lot_ of trouble…

"Imagine meeting you here."

She tensed, her eyes closing tightly in resignation, and then relaxed, looking back to Ying Fa. Her voice controlled despite her annoyance at once again being caught off guard when she should have known full well it should have been expected, she replied, "Not a hard thing to do when you're everywhere."

"I try," he drawled and she could hear the rustle of his coat as he leaned a little closer. "It's not as easy being a stalker as they show on TV. Maybe I should sue over false advertising."

"That'd be something stupid that a money-hungry person like you would do."

"I'm no money hungry. Money-conscious, maybe, but I prefer a good steak any day."

"You're full of shit."

"And you're running out of insults if that's all you can come up with."

She rolled her eyes. "Oh…alas…I am not wasting my intelligence on you."

He was quiet and then suddenly looming over her left side in a way that she was forced to incline her head towards him, all the while making sure that Ying wasn't killing herself on any of the apparatus from the corner of her eye. For a while he didn't say anything else and she thought that he might actually leave her alone, but was mistaken when he mumbled lowly, "So are you going to stop being a snob any time soon?"

"I'm not a snob!" she protested, nearly whirling around to face him but stopping herself just in time.

"Sure you are," he replied lazily, as though commenting on something as common as the weather. "I bet I'm the first person to call you on it, though."

"Excuse me for learning from the mistakes of all the other idiotic, stupid girls that dated you, got fucked and then thrown aside. You want to talk about calling me on something? I'm calling you on being a jerk."

"Oh come on, you can do better than that," he taunted. "You're the loquacious Chaya Mizuhara of the Ever Interesting Comments. 'Jerk' can't be the only thing you can come up with."

She clenched her fists angrily. "It's not, I just don't feel like preaching another sermon on the reasons why I don't like you. If you really want to know, wait a few months until the paperback edition comes out. It's been translated into three different languages so far."

He snorted. "Cute."

"I know I am."

There was a long silence between them and Chaya felt a nervous sense about her as though she knew something was about to explode or something. Maybe she'd finally kill him?

No, that would be the coward's way out of this mess.

"Come up with anything yet?"

"Would you shut up and leave me alone?" she demanded, glancing again towards Ying. "In case you hadn't noticed, I'm working. Something you probably have no idea how to do."

"Yeah, well, don't exert yourself; the Devil's Spawn won't hurt herself. She's like a black box –"

"Tell me about it," she muttered under her breath.

"– which means you can continue thinking up reasons why you don't like me. Of course, three separate incidents convince me that those reasons are dwindling…"

"Cocky bastard."

"Hot cocky bastard," he corrected and she could practically hear the smirk in his voice. "Admit it."

"Where were you before Christmas, I already did. Meaning I don't have to do it again."

"Yeah, but that's because you were tricked into it, so it doesn't count."

"Hah!" she scoffed loudly, making Ying look up curiously, and then go back to her frolicking. "There's another reason. You're a sneaky, conniving weasel."

He let out a laugh that sounded like a bark. "Classic case of the pot calling the kettle's ass black. That one doesn't count considering I brought it up."

"Your point? I've said it about six billion odd times before."

If she had turned around, she'd have matched him at the monstrous glare he was sending her way. But considering she didn't want to face him at the moment, she merely fiddled again with the note.

"Look, forget it. Next subject. You never answered my question."

"What my problem is? That's a no-brainer: you."

"Jackass," he muttered, but didn't say it in an insulting way. He reached over her shoulder and tightly clutched the hand that held the note in his fist. She scowled, ignoring the warmth that was encompassing her fingers. It had nothing to do with them being shielded from the frigid air. "This one."

"I shouldn't have to," she watched their clasped hands warily. He wasn't showing any intention of letting her go. "Stop that."

"You still haven't answered the question."

"Leave me alone."

"Answer me and I might."

"What, no promise!"

"What are you, afraid of me?"

Her eyes flashed and for the first time since he had showed up, she faced Kai, her neck straining as she sought to glare at him. "Don't even think that that's a possibility, you overconfident little…uh…"

She swallowed nervously.

He was less than an inch away, causing a fluttering feeling like a promise of what could happen. This didn't disarm her as strongly as the look in his eyes, though.

Warm amusement matched the smile on his face, no sign of the challenge from before. She had to use all of her will-power to match his gaze and not allow her eyes to flicker to his own lips. As though he could read her thoughts, the smile widened and he ducked closer. "I'm going to kiss you now."

The words weren't hers, but they were. "Whether I like it or not?"

The smile warped into a predatory smirk and he was even closer now that she could almost feel their lips touching, when –

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH! CHAY! CHAY! GETITOFGETITOFF!"

In seconds Chaya had jumped up, bumping her forehead roughly against Kai's and was running over to Ying, who was screaming as though she was possessed, pointing at something that was stuck to her mitten.

"IS A BUG! IS A BU-U-UG!" the kid waved her arm frantically, high-pitched wails echoing through the empty park.

Chaya could have laughed and screamed in frustration when she finally got a look at the 'bug'. Plucking the wayward dead leaf that must have fallen from one of the above trees, she kneeled down in front of the little girl and fixed her with an unimpressed stare. "Kiddo, there are no bugs in the winter. It was a dead leaf."

"Was a bug," the Chinese girl pouted, not to be comforted. She was stubborn.

"Honey, there are no – "

"Was a bug! Was a bug!" Chaya sighed at the little girl and then smiled wearily.

"Okay, it was a bug."

"Chay, I'm cold," Ying said cheerfully, the 'bug' forgotten right away when Chaya agreed with her. "We can go home an' eat hot chocolate, right?"

"Sure, but I think you mean _drink_ hot chocolate," she responded. "Alright, let's go."

"Carry me?" the little imp said innocently, attempting the puppy-eyes that all children are inherently born with.

Chaya stood up. "Nice try, shrimp, but you're a little too heavy for eight blocks. You walked here, you can walk back."

The Chinese girl's eyes began to water and Chaya prepared herself for an onslaught of temper tantrums. Before the loud wails could fill the air, Kai had appeared by both their sides and whipped the little girl into his arms. "You're spoiled, you know that, twerp?"

"Kai!" Ying chirped, pulling jokingly on his hair. Chaya gaped. The senior noticed and sent her a lopsided smirk.

"I used to baby-sit, remember? I have a special bond with the kid."

Chaya's eyes narrowed. "You shouldn't give into her anymore than everyone already does. She might end up like another you."

"And for that the world should be grateful."

"Full of yourself much?"

"But as much as you, yeah. Are we walking or talking?"

The brown-eyed girls spluttered. "I never said you could come with us."

"Well too bad, snob, I'm going with you anyway."

"ARRGH!" she yelled, stalking off towards the Kon house.

The nerve of that creep! He just butted his way into everything and absolutely tried to piss her off. Besides the fact that she was getting used to him popping up all over the place, she wished he'd at least tone it down a little. And of course, the little traitor had to go and be all cheerful about it, Chaya thought as she sent an annoyed look back at Ying, who was busily tugging at Kai's hair from her place on his back. He was grimacing from the onslaught, but wasn't saying anything. When he caught Chaya looking back he smirked at her and she turned around quickly, pretending she hadn't been looking.

Okay, so he happened to have more tolerance for kids than she did. So what? It wasn't as if she needed anymore reasons to…

Reasons to what exactly?

Oh, she knew the answer to that question, but stubborn pride kept her from admitting anything. And that's the way it was going to stay…

"Hey Mizuhara, you're walking right past Kon's house. Unless you want to be stuck with the brat all day, keep walking." Chaya groaned loudly and turned around to face Kai, her face red with anger. As usual, he was regarding her as though she was something interesting and amusing, like one of those wind-up toys he might have had as a kid.

Refraining from telling him off rather vocally in front of such an "impressionable" child, Chaya hurriedly went to the door and got ready to open it. Once she'd gotten Ying out of her snow-suit and busy with a bunch of toys, she tell him _exactly_ what was what. And there would be more than one word beginning with 'f'.

She was just about to put the key into the lock, when the heavy oak door sprang open and Chaya jumped. "Mrs. Kon?"

"Mama!" Ying squealed.

"Oh Chaya, you're home now," Ray's mother said cheerfully. "I just got in."

"You're a little early…"

"Well, when Ray called to say you'd be taking over for him, I figured I should come home and relieve you, just in case you had other plans," her eyes flickered behind Chaya and the blond realized why Ray's mother had said those particular words. She looked back to Chaya. "Was Ying well-behaved?"

"The good news is she didn't fall into anything messy this time." Kai was speaking in a friendly voice to Mrs. Kon and Chaya remembered again that they already knew each other pretty well.

Mrs. Kon laughed at what seemed to be an inside joke, and accepted her daughter when Kai passed her to her. "So, how much do I owe you?"

"Nothing," Chaya shrugged. "I owed Ray a favor. No big."

"No, I insist. You shouldn't go unpaid," Mrs. Kon frowned. "I'll be right back."

Bustling off with Ying Fa, Chaya didn't even have time to send a scathing remark Kai's way, before she had returned and pressed thirty dollars into her hands. "There you go. Thank you again, and have fun, you two."

Chaya's eyes widened. "We're not –"

"Nonsense, you deserved it," the Chinese woman smiled kindly, obviously mistaking what Chaya was about to say for reluctance to take the money. Before she could correct her, the woman had waved, and closed the door.

The two teenagers stood for a long moment in silence in front of the door, before Chaya huffed angrily and turned around, ready to walk back home. She heard Kai snort, and judging by his footsteps, he was following her. "What are you doing?"

"Would you believe that I'm walking you home?" he said simply.

"No. Because for you to be walking me home, you'd have to count as one of my friends. And right now, you don't even qualify for 'acquaintance'," she told him irritably, turning to corner and beginning her twelve block walk to her house.

"You mean you actually let acquaintances get by with kissing you and talk to them civilly afterward?" Amusement in his voice again. Damn him.

"Why are you so hell-bent on me accepting you, anyway?" she asked flatly, noticing him catching up to her so that he was now walking beside her, their hands brushing whenever they moved. "And what brought it on, anyway? I thought we were both perfectly content to keep hating each other. It's the natural way of things and I like it like that."

"Would you believe it happened when you broke my nose?"

She paused, then peered at him to see if he were joking or not. It didn't seem so. "You get off on pain, or something?"

"No. Just you."

"Ugh, I don't want to be a part of any perverted fantasies, thank you very much," she rolled her eyes and quickened her step.

She suddenly found herself pinned almost painfully to the brick-wall of one of the apartment complexes by the sidewalk, the only buffer between her and the cement being her thick winter-coat and toque. "What the hell, Hiwatari! What's with you lately? Do I have a sign on me that says 'shove me against inanimate objects, I enjoy it'!"

"I dunno, want me to check?" he grinned lecherously down at her and she glared, struggling to escape his grip.

Kai. Must. Die.

"So much for you beginning to slightly resemble a normal human being," she snapped. "Get off me, or the minute I get free I'll be telling the authorities about you sexually harassing me."

"Rape you? Not going to happen," he snorted, although his grip only lessened slightly. Not enough for her to get away from him. "And you call _me_ egotistical?"

"If I ever said egotistical, I meant idiotic."

"Oh, but I thought the nice-guy routine was pissing you off," he said innocently, leaning in. She wished suddenly that there were actually people that inhabited the streets during the winter. But no, the jerks were all probably cozy in their homes…damn it, what was his problem? "Of course, you were the one that told me to kiss you not half-an-hour ago."

Unable to make any reply to that, she narrowed her lips into a thin line and settled at continuing to glare at him. He had leaned even closer, past her face and whispered into her ear, "Don't look so scared. I promise I won't bite you…hard."

"That line is so overused I'm surprised it's not been recycled yet," she said stonily.

He paused for a moment to look at her, and she squirmed uncomfortably in his grasp. Although she hated herself to actually admit it, she wanted him to kiss her. Even though he still represented most of the things she hated, and even though she'd probably become just another notch in his belt, she wanted him to do it. After all, hadn't Miyami said something about high school relationships really not mattering? There didn't even have to be emotional attachment, right?

It seemed he had seen something in her eyes, because a moment later, before she had time to even react (what would she have done any way?), his mouth had descended upon hers and anything she might possibly have been about to say was cut off. Maybe it was the fact that they were out in the open, freezing cold and the embrace was a warm one, maybe it was the satisfaction that he was finally kissing her and maybe she was just going crazy and finally giving in, because this time when his lips moved over hers, demanding, she kissed him back. Not just kissed him back. Battled his tongue in the open-mouthed kiss, nibbling and exploring anywhere she could gain access to. Her eyes were shut tightly at the melting, knee-buckling sensations that were flowing through her from where their lips were locked. There was no way she would lose the game of tonsil-hockey this time…her hands were all of a sudden free, one of them cupping his face, the other grasping the lapels of his coat, a hard task considering her thick mittens. But how was it possible in the first place? He had been holding them both before.

He must have let them go.

Her head hurt, the way it was pushing into the wall behind her, but she didn't care.

One of his arms was snaked around her waist as he relented on the assault on her lips, and began kissing and nibbling up her jaw-line. She tilted her head to one side, ready to allow him more access, when she noticed something. His other hand seemed to be trying to slip into her coat.

"You pervert!" she snapped, pushing him away with the hands that was on his face.

He winced and took a step back, and then grinned over at her. "Oh come on, you enjoyed that, didn't you?"

"That's not the point. The point is you're a perverted jack-ass that can't take an inch, you have to go the mile," she growled, pushing herself away from the wall and continuing on her way home.

He laughed out loud, almost mockingly. "An admission! You do like it."

"What I don't like is you treating me like some two-bit-slut. I'm not a fuck-toy, and neither are the other idiots you dated before – " She jumped suddenly when she felt his arms wrap around her and his chin settle between the juncture of her shoulder and neck. "What are you doing?"

"I just remembered. You didn't answer me yet. Are you going with me Friday?"

She narrowed her eyes even though he couldn't see. Turning around to face him, once again inches from his face, she leaned up and surveyed him, as though trying to memorize every detail of his face. He blinked almost in confusion. Mimicking he movements from earlier, she leaned past his face, brushing against the skin of his cheek. She could feel him tense, and she smiled against his ear, almost brushing it with her lips.

"…no."

She pushed him away roughly and turned to go back home. She heard a muffled thump and decided that he must have fallen into the snow bank.

"Bitch!" he yelled after her, and she heard him recover from his wipe-out in the snow. She grinned.

"A word of advice, Kai: you're an idiot."

"You fucking tease, why the hell not!"

"I never said I'd make this easy for you, Hiwitari," she called back, not turning around as she kept walking. "You're going to have to prove you're not just after a quick fuck like all the others."

She could hear him cursing her in the background, and smiled, looking down at her feet.

It looked as though a different game had sprung up between them…

Time to get out the real artillery…

* * *

FINALLY! I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR OVER A YEAR TO WRITE THIS CHAPTER OUT, AND I HOPE YOU ALL ENJOYED IT. R & R WOULD BE APPRECIATED. LURVE YOU ALL LOADS, 

KURINESS


	25. Spoil Sport

**_Burning in the Sea_**

Author: KuriQuinn

Title: Burning in the Sea

Fandom: Bakuten Shoot Beyblade

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade, never will and have no intention of leading a crusade to try to own them. That's too much money and too much effort. However, I do like to manipulate the characters to do my bidding because it amuses me and countless others. This is the only disclaimer you will see in this fic, so if you decide to review me saying that I didn't give credit to the real person that came up with Beyblade (Aoki Takao) I will calmly tell you to go screw yourself. That is all.

Fanfiction Disclaimer: Chaya is my own creation, as is Haley, Jennifer, Claire and anyone else that you don't recognize. Miyami Kinomiya belongs to Mags, my best friend. Aurelia Delk belongs to Band-Freak aka Lobo-Chan. Flash Jameson belongs to Flash, Iris Messana belongs to Iz.

Rating: R for language, mature themes and mature humor

Pairing: Figure it out.

Takes-Place: Alternate Universe

Summary: When you live in small town, where everything and everyone is the same, what are you supposed to do? Why, wreak whatever hell you can, of course

**

* * *

Chapter ****Twenty-Five: Spoil Sport **

Saturday morning had the sunlight pouring into Chaya's small room and onto her face, making her mutter something unintelligible and curl into a new position, away from the annoying Mr. Sun. She was just falling back asleep when she heard the rustle of her curtains and extremely cold air fly past her cheeks. Her eyes sprang open as she found herself suddenly fully awake, and confused, she vaulted into a sitting position.

Her eyes widened at the sight and before she could stop herself, she had begun to scream.

"STALKER! STALKER! STAAAAAAALKER!" she tossed her pillow violently at the smug looking personage that was Kai Hiwitari as he sat next to her open window, easily dodging her wild throws.

"Morning to you too," he smirked at her while she yanked her covers up over her and edged further into the wall, bumping her head on the bunk above hers in the process, her comfortable and contented mood completely having evaporated within seconds.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" she growled, tightening her grip on the blanket as she watched him wade through the mess that was her room and sit down at the edge of her bed, toying with a thread on her comforter. "How did you get in here and how fast can I murder you and hide the body?"

"Hm, a few too many questions to answer there, Mizuhara," he drawled, looking down at something. Chaya glanced down too and found her face going red. The amount of bras that she had discarded on her floor were enough to make anyone blush, and she was instantly out of bed and hurrying around the room to pick up all of the incriminating garments.

"Don't get any ideas, you pervert," she warned as she tossed them all into the closet, which was already hard considering it was stuffed to the brim. "Now why don't you try to answer one at a time and then get the hell out of here before I have to kill you?"

He was saved from answering when Max pocked his head into the room, a wicked grin on his face. "You okay, Chays?"

"No, I am not okay, what the hell is _he_ doing here!" she demanded, pointing at Kai as though he were an offensive object.

"I let told him to come in," Max shrugged, noticing her trying to tidy her room. An even bigger grin appeared on his face as he opened the door more fully and whipped out a camera. "Can you say, 'blackmail'?"

"Can you say, 'take one picture and I swear to God that flash will be the last light you ever see'?" Chaya snarled, advancing on her brother with a murderous look in her eyes. Max squeaked and disappeared, slamming the door behind him and Chaya found herself caught from behind by a pair of strong arms. "Get off."

"You're not a morning person," Kai observed from behind her and she pulled away from him roughly, facing him in annoyance.

"Gee, what gave it away?"

"Do you really want me to answer that?" he smirked.

"Get the hell out of my house."

"Nope," he sat back down on her bed, as though getting comfortable. "See, remember how you said you weren't going to make it easy for me? Well I'm not going to make it easy for you either." She gaped at him, trying to comprehend what he meant, watching for a moment as her cat hopped up onto the bed and he reached out for Harry. She frowned. "If you do that, she'll scra – " she found herself shutting up as Kai managed to get Harry to purr and roll onto her side. "Why isn't she scratching? She scratched you before, I know she did. Why's there no blood now?"

"Possibly because she trusts me?"

"Why? I don't even trust you," she crossed her arms and looked at him expectantly.

He looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "What, you want me to say that I kidnapped your stupid cat and brainwashed it?"

"Hah! An admission!"

"Oh shut up and get dressed," he rolled his eyes, getting off of the bed.

"What? Why? No!" she jutted her chin out like a stubborn child. "That's not part of my morning routine, and it's definitely not going to happen while you're hanging around here."

He shrugged at her, as though not really caring. "Suit yourself."

He began to approach her and before she could even let out a surprised shriek, he had bent down, wrapped his arms around her waist, hefted her over his shoulder and lifted her into the air.

"Guess we're going like this," he commented dryly as he opened the door of her room. Chaya's eyes bugged out.

"YOU FREAK, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!" she yelled, kicking her legs behind her and succeeding in doing nothing but banging her ankles against the doorframe as Kai carried her down the stairs. "LET ME GO YOU BRUTISH, HE-MAN NEANDAERTHAL, THIS IS SO PUTTING YOU ON THE LIST, IF YOU DON'T LET ME GO RIGHT NOW, I SWEAR WHEN I DO GET DOWN I'M GOING TO BEAT YOU INTO THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION, AND BACK THEN THEY DIDN'T TOLERATE PEOPLE LIKE YOU!" She paused to take a breath, just as they passed the kitchen where her mother and father were looking out.

"Morning Mr. and Mrs. Mizuhara, I hope you don't mind me taking your daughter out today, a little air might be good for her," Kai said smoothly. "Might work out a few bugs in her system. I'll have her back at a reasonable hour."

"Uhm…sure," she heard her father say and even more anger bubbled up inside her.

"DAD, WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU THINKING, HE COULD BE PLANNING TO RAPE AND MURDER ME FOR ALL YOU KNOW – LET ME DOWN, YOU SUPERCILIOUS, PIG HEADED DEMON SPAWN INCARNATE! MOM, CAN'T YOU AT LEAST USE YOUR SENSE FOR ONCE IN YOUR LIFE – LET ME GOOOOOO!"

She found herself being plunked down into the front passenger seat of a car, the door slammed beside her, cutting off the blast of January air that had assaulted her bare arms. Granted, she wasn't exactly dressed for outside, considering she had been in bed. A pair of sweatpants and a wife-beater were the extent of her clothes at the moment.

"You done now?" Kai asked in a flat voice as he got into the drivers seat and turned the key into the ignition.

"This is kidnapping," Chaya said in an annoyed voice as she surveyed the interior of the red 1978 Mercedes SL convertible that had been parked in her small drive-way. She knew this car well, considering she had fixed it once, and watched it shrink into the distance leaving her alone another time. The black top was up for the first time and the heater was blasting away the cold winter air. She looked down and frowned. "You've rebuilt the transmission. Why the hell would you do that?"

"Uh, I didn't," Kai frowned. "It's Tala's car, remember?"

"Remind me to call him an idiot. Why would you decide to get rid of the stick shift? It's what makes the car. What is he, too lazy to move his hand around a little?" She grumbled out loud, and then turned to him and narrowed her eyes again. "And I'm not finished with you. I don't know what you expect to do now that you've got me in here, it's not like I can do anything. In case you haven't noticed, I don't have my hair brushed, or clothes, or shoes."

Kai snorted and shifted into reverse, backed out, and then shifted to drive. "I already took that into account. I figured you'd make a big deal about leaving the house, so I grabbed some of Taryn's shit. It's in the back."

"You-you – you're one stubborn son-of-a-bitch, you know that?" she snapped, reaching around and grabbing the plastic bag that held a few toiletries and clothes, pulling on the heavy winter jacket that had been stuffed in within an inch of its life.

"Yeah, you just told me."

She winced at the constricting coat. "Dilemma: I'm not the same size as her. These clothes are unnaturally tight for me."

"And there's a problem with that?"

She glowered at him through the rearview mirror and pulled herself back into the front with the bag, angling for a brush in the bag. When she found it, she began to yank it through her hair brutally, trying to purge it off the fate known as 'bed-head'. He was laughing at her silently as he pulled out of her neighborhood and onto the highway that led towards the town. "Pig."

"Get used to it."

"Another problem," she grumbled as she pulled on a pair of steel-toed boots that she remembered her friend buying with her last year. She grunted, finding it difficult to maneuver in the small car. "I don't have a bra."

The older teen snorted and glanced at her for a long moment. "You see, I would be the last person to care about that particular piece of information."

"Oh yeah, well as the other party in the reproduction process, if you want to keep your ability to ever have children, you'll take me to a store before we go anywhere else and buy me said bra," she told him sweetly.

"And I would be the one buying it, _because_?"

"Because you're the one that dragged me out of my house without even telling me what was going on, prohibiting me from getting dressed or grabbing my wallet on the way, and if you don't watch out this guy's going to cut you off," she said in one breath.

Kai said something under his breath that she didn't quite catch and slowed down as the guy in the Honda Civic pulled out in front of them. "You know, somehow I pictured my first gift you being something a little more suave and cool."

"What's not suave and cool about support?" Chaya raised an eyebrow. "Man, if you can't even get used to buying lingerie for me, you're a lost cause. What happens when we get into pads and tampons?"

She felt a satisfied laugh escape her lips at the face he made at her words, and congratulated herself inwardly. Now who was making things hard, huh?

"You know, most girls wouldn't be bringing this stuff up this early in a relationship," he commented.

"Who said we were in a relationship? You're the one that kidnapped me out of my house. As far as I'm concerned, we're still in an 'enemy-of-seething-hatredship.'"

"Would you give it a rest already and leave Denial-land behind," Kai snapped, irritated. "I understand that social touches are probably a new territory for you, Mizuhara – considering if I wanted a sock in the gut you'd be more than happy to deliver – but it'd be nice if you gave me credit for trying. I don't expect you to make any of this easy, and likewise to you. But cut me some slack, okay? Contrary to what you think, I do have a good side."

"Feh, I'm having trouble finding it," she muttered, and then yelped as the car suddenly swerved to the left as Kai got ready to get off on the exit and nearly got hit by an oncoming car. "What the hell? Who taught you to drive? The sign said 'yield'! Yield means 'slow down and be ready to stop', not 'speed up and hope no one will hit you'!"

"Would you stop it; the guy was letting me go."

"He was not!"

"Look, I'm not arguing with you."

"Why, what's stopping you today?"

There was a heavy silence as he glared at her off and on from the corner of his eyes as he tried to stay on the road, and Chaya rolled her eyes. Men and driving…not a good combo…

With a resigned air, she leaned over and turned on the radio, cranking up the volume of some oldies rock classic.

This was going to be a long day…

(-)

"Are you done yet?" she heard Kai complaining loudly from outside the women's bathroom in the mall. She grumbled in reply as she pulled on her newly bought aquamarine bra, and then the wife-beater, before unlocking the stall. The entire time that she had been trying to find something, Hiwatari had been trying to steer her towards the lacey, racy looking ones.

"There's this thing called patience, Hiwitari, I wonder if you ever heard of it," she said sarcastically as she looked herself over critically in the mirror. Her hair was still hopelessly tussled, and she grimaced. Back when she'd had long hair all she'd ever had to worry about was the gross, greasy feeling of long hair. Now she had to worry about her hair somehow solidifying itself into a position that it refused to leave…like it was doing now. That and she already looked strange enough, what with the sweatpants and steal-toed boots that made her look like some skin-head punk.

"Yeah, I heard of it. Right along with 'punctuality'," his voice was muffled on the other side. "You know, I don't see why you couldn't just wear that out of the store."

"Hm, let me see, because I would have had to flip up my top for the sales dudette to demagnetize it?" she scoffed, reaching into the bag that held Taryn's make-up, deciding she could at least make some sort of compensation for looking like a skin-head. Might as well go the whole way, right? She frowned when she didn't get a response. "Hiwatari, you still alive?"

"Uh huh," he mumbled distractedly, his voice slightly muffled. "Just had a visual…"

"You're sick," she snapped, deciding she'd be lazy after all and forgo the tough-chick make-up. She stuck the rest of her things in the back and stalked out of the bathroom, glad to leave behind the gross scent of toilet cleaner. Kai was leaning against the door, looking bored and amused at the same time, if it was possible. Then again, this was Kai. Anything was possible with him, and that wasn't a good thing, either. "So are you going to stop being such a guy and tell me what the hell we're supposed to do now?"

"Well, being the gallant gentleman that I am –" Chaya snorted at this, "– I was going to treat you to a movie."

"Treat me? As though I can't pay for it myself?"

"Well…you can't."

"Besides the point," she waved her hand. "So…what movie did you have in mind?"

He shrugged. "What do you want to see?"

She shrugged, allowing him to lead her towards the movie theater that was located at the other end of the mall. "If anyone had told me I would be spending Saturday morning deliberating movie choices with you I would have personally driven them to an insane asylum, you know?" She looked up when they reached the theater and scanned the titles. "Is there anything up there with a lot of explosions, car chases and stuff?"

"_Torque_," he said. "But I'd have thought you'd want to see some kind of chick-flick, like _Along Came Polly_."

"Dude, look at me," she regarded him with an unimpressed stare. "Do I look like the chick-flick type?" He grinned at her and shrugged. "Yeah, I thought so. Nice try. If that was a ploy to try to maneuver me into a slobber-trade-session with you, don't count on it. If we're going to a movie, we're going to watch the damn thing."

"Killjoy," he accused.

"Get used to it."

"Ouch."

"Tit-for-fucking-tat."

"Tits, hm?"

She smacked him in the back of the head. "Can you say one-track mind?"

(-)

"What the hell was that?" she demanded furiously as they left the movie theater after the movies. "So much for a good movie, the entire thing was just a hoo-hah of stunts and mindless guy drivel as they threw their weight around on motor-bikes."

Almost two hours later the two of them walked out of the darkened movie-theater, chucking the empty popcorn and cup of iced tea that Chaya had allowed Kai to buy them – although she had insisted on paying him back. She wasn't a charity case that needed a rich boyfriend.

She was actually quite impressed. He hadn't tried anything in the theater to make her distrust him, although she had found her hand encompassed in his, but that hadn't been as bad as she would have thought any other day.

"Tell me about it," Kai grumbled. "Half of that shit isn't even possible. And you made me sit through the entire thing."

"You suggested movies."

"You suggested sitting through it."

They exchanged unimpressed glances, before Kai cleared his throat. "So…food?

"You'd better," she replied crankily. "And it better be somewhere good. A lot of the restaurants around here play shitty music, and I left my talisman of protection against Celine Dion music at home."

"I was thinking somewhere classier than a fast-food joint," Kai yawned, leading her away from the movie theater and back down the hallway. She didn't say anything to his arm wrapped around her waist, although it might have been the fact that she was too busy catching the contagious yawn.

"Classy and the way I'm dressed now don't go together," she commented simply.

"I didn't mean classy-classy, loser, I meant better than fast food," Kai said flatly. "I'm not like Vaughn, who absolutely has to impress any girl he goes out with by taking her to a five-star restaurant."

"Which is a good thing, because I don't like the pressure of five-star restaurants…especially considering when a guy takes you to one, they just want to get into your pants."

"And where did you make this brilliant discovery?"

She snorted. "TV, where else?" She noticed the look he was giving her. "TV was right again, wasn't it?"

"Possibly," he said in a quiet voice, looking a little put out. "Damn, there goes the third date plan."

"Third date? The first has to happen first," she reminded him.

He looked at her as though unable to understand her, removing his arm from her waist to look at her more fully. "And what do you call this?"

"I told you already, Hiwitari," she smirked. "Kidnapping. A date is when you actually ask the girl out, pick her up at an appointed time after giving her time to get ready, and proceed to spend the allotted time together. What you did was kidnapping."

"Stop with the kidnapping already, it's getting annoying," he grumbled. "And for the record, I did ask you."

"Yeah, for yesterday," she reminded him. "Not today."

She smiled charmingly at him. He shook his head, an annoyed look on his face. "I think you must be breaking some sort of stupidity limit."

Her smile disappeared and she narrowed her eyes. "Wow, did you look that one up in a book? Oh no, wait, that would require you to read."

"Read up on what, bitchy blonds who can't cut a guy some slack when he's actually trying?" he snapped. "I've been nothing but nice to you – "

"Ah! Untrue!"

"– in the past few months."

"Sure. What do you call dumping glue into my hair?" she asked him, waiting for him to get himself out of this mess. She had to admit, she did feel a little bad giving Kai such a hard time…but a part of her really didn't know how to be nice to the guy. After all the grief he'd given her…it was kind of hard to just turn everything around…

"Evening the ground. I was humoring you," he tugged on her bangs. "Besides, I think it turned out to my advantage."

"Ugh, is that all you think about, is the way a girl looks?" she demanded.

"No, and I already told you all the reasons," he replied, running a hand through his hair roughly. He looked adorably conflicted between anger and being serious. "But I'll add the things about you that piss me off are that you can never take anything for face-value and you always have to over-complicate everything. Even something as stupid as food – "

She wasn't sure why she did it. A part of her had wanted to all day, the other part just wanted to be the one to shut _him_ up for a change. Kissing him had seemed like a good idea, and so she didn't hold back from reaching up and yanking his head downwards so that her lips crushed against his.

He was too surprised to respond, it seemed, and by the time he was about to, she pulled away and smirked at him. He was gazing out from glazed, half-lidded eyes, before blinking and looking her over.

"Well…so much for making it hard for me," he told her weakly and she rolled her eyes.

"Idiot, that was to get you to shut up," she mumbled. "And if I had known that was all it took, I'd have done it much sooner."

"Reeeaaaally," he drawled, an interested note appearing in his voice.

"No, not really."

"Ouch. That hurt…right here."

"Stop pointing to your crotch, people are looking over here."

"Yeah, so? Don't you think that might have something to do with your rather public display of affection?" he cocked his head to one side roguishly. She raised a finger and poked him.

"Don't get overconfident. Now you were saying before: food."

"Direct, aren't you?"

"Where have you been the past year?"

(-)

"…so Rousseau was essentially the beginnings of an anarchist."

"Well, if you're going to compare him to Hobbes the way you've been doing for the past hour, no shit," Chaya commented, leaning into the warmth of the cars heater. "But on his own he just didn't go for the whole absolutist crap. Man in nature is in a state of utopia."

"But he was advocating the loss of rules and an involved, interventional government. Getting rid of a government that intervenes is the same as getting rid of the government in general. Ergo: anarchist." Kai paused for a moment, frowning. "Please disregard my use of the word 'ergo'."

"Nope, that ones stuck in my mind now," she smirked. "But you should be happy. Now I know you actually have a brain."

"That makes us even."

Chaya frowned in the darkness of the car. It was past six-o'clock and the sun had already long since disappeared. Damn winter time…"Oh yeah, how? I always showed that I have a brain."

"I was talking about you having a heart."

"Whoa, low-blow."

"Like cures like."

"Shut up, Paracelsus."

He sniggered and turned into her street. Chaya smirked ruefully and turned towards the window. All in all, the day could have gone worse, she admitted grudgingly to herself. She had discovered that Kai did actually have a brain when he wasn't thinking with his…well, when he was actually thinking.

And it turned out they happened to have other things in common other than liking Nickleback and hating Clarkson. It turned out Kai had a secret liking of Japanese animation, as she found out when she used a reference to one of her favorite ones and he'd responded properly…it was a real manga moment.

"Well, here we are," he said quietly, pulling into her driveway and parking. "We're home. You can go tell the authorities my name and number so they can arrest me on kidnapping charges. I mean, I'm even letting you get away. You'll be able to ID me in no time flat."

"Hm, don't tempt me," she told him, unbuckling her seat-belt. "Tell Taryn thanks for the clothes."

"Uh huh, sure," he mumbled, then looked at her beseechingly. "What, no goodnight kiss?"

She laughed and fixed him in a pointed stare. "Buddy, haven't you read the manual? You only get that on the first date, which – "

"Yeah, yeah, hasn't happened yet," he grumbled. "You really are a fucking tease, you know that."

She leaned over and pecked him quickly on the nose. "I learn from the best, you jerk. See you at school."

She pushed open the door and got out of the car, letting the frigid air whip at her face. She smirked upward into the streetlight, allowing her face to morph into a grin.

'Things are going to get interesting…'

* * *

FWAH! Finally. I've been working on that for a while. Sorry for the only one fic update…but while you're waiting you can all go read Alptraum which was updated a while ago but it seems no one has readyet… (forgive me for advertising my other fics, but hey…I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel this month its prom month) 

R & R,

KuriQuinn


	26. White Flag Monday

**_Burning in the Sea_**

Author: KuriQuinn

Title: Burning in the Sea

Fandom: Bakuten Shoot Beyblade

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade, never will and have no intention of leading a crusade to try to own them. That's too much money and too much effort. However, I do like to manipulate the characters to do my bidding because it amuses me and countless others. This is the only disclaimer you will see in this fic, so if you decide to review me saying that I didn't give credit to the real person that came up with Beyblade (Aoki Takao) I will calmly tell you to go screw yourself. That is all.

Fanfiction Disclaimer: Chaya is my own creation, as is Haley, Jennifer, Claire and anyone else that you don't recognize. Miyami Kinomiya belongs to Mags, my best friend. Aurelia Delk belongs to Band-Freak aka Lobo-Chan. Flash Jameson belongs to Flash, Iris Messana belongs to Iz.

Rating: R for language, mature themes and mature humor

Pairing: Figure it out.

Takes-Place: Alternate Universe

Summary: When you live in small town, where everything and everyone is the same, what are you supposed to do? Why, wreak whatever hell you can, of course

**

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Six: White Flag Monday **

"It's your birthday! Your date of birth!" Chaya sang in an off-key voice as she danced around the study room where her brother was attempting to put his clothes on, waving a party-noise maker and balloons. Max seemed to be attempting to ignore her, but when she came particularly close with the noisemaker he let out a ticked off yell.

"Chaya, shut up – "

" – your first day on earth – "

" – Chaya – !"

" – Your only day of worth – "

"DAD! Get her out of my room!"

The blond cackled and pranced out of the room, relishing in the slam of the door behind her as she skipped down the stairs. Annoying Max would be a small revenge for his action (or lack thereof) the previous Saturday, and considering today was his birthday it was bound to be even more fun. She could hear him thumping around his room angrily in response to her song and laughed again.

"Are you finished with being an immature brat now?" her mother asked her as she entered the kitchen.

"Yup. My quota is filled," Chaya grinned, shifting into a chair at the table and grabbing a piece of toast from the plate her father had just put down. Her mother rolled her eyes and took another sip of her coffee, going back to her newspaper. Chaya made a face as she studied her mother.

At six months pregnant, Judy had already begun to show a small bulge below her stomach and her face was getting round. She had entered into her third trimester, to the private thanks of the rest of the household, and found herself having more experiences with the baby inside her. She'd even stopped getting on people's backs about the mess-level in the house.

Again Chaya cocked her head to one side. "You know, you shouldn't be drinking that. It's bad for the baby."

"Well I'm sure the baby will forgive Mommy today, because Mommy's got a big, stressful meeting today with twelve sexist old bastards and needs to be awake enough to tell them all where to get off," Judy said in a sweet manner, rubbing her stomach affectionately.

Chaya snorted into her toast. Six months really had wrought some sort of change in her mother. Judy actually seemed to want the baby now more than anyone else and was taking pretty good care of herself. In fact, it was almost to a manic level that she was taking care of herself – exercise, more than regular check-ups… Not that she was the only one, considering Max had read over every maternity magazine and tips for expectant mothers, spouting off scientific strategies that pleased his mother immensely.

Honestly, if her parents hadn't figured out about Max yet they never would, Chaya thought absently, glancing at the clock. Maternity magazines…honestly…

Of course she couldn't exactly say anything to that considering she herself had been immersed in the annoying things…

"Morning Mum," Max's voice interrupted her thoughts as he swooped into the kitchen, kissed Judy on the cheek and then glared at Chaya.

"Happy birthday, honey," the woman said cheerfully. "How's my strapping sixteen-year-old son today?"

"Pretty much the same as yesterday," Max grinned. Chaya continued to look at the clock. There was something about it… "Except now I can legally get my driving permit…unlike someone."

"Keep digging, Maxie, the grave's still too shallow," Chaya said darkly. "Of course you seem to be forgetting that one day really does absolutely nothing in the big scheme of things."

Her twin wiggled his eyebrows at her. "Well, it's making you mad, so it must be."

"Okay, you two, that's enough," there father said as he came up the stairs from the shop, carrying a large, brightly wrapped gift. "Don't you want to open your gift, Maxie?"

"Score!" her brother cheered, sitting himself down on the table as their father placed the gift before him.

It took less than thirty seconds for Max to tear the paper off of the box and give a great 'whoop' of delight as the box holding his new Sony sound system was uncovered. Chaya looked away from the clock for another moment to admire her brother's present and ask. "So, any chance of me getting my gift early?"

"Nice try," her father smirked. "You still have to wait another day."

"Aw, come on."

"Sorry, sweetie, it's what you get for deciding you wanted to come out three minutes later instead of one," their father said easily, reaching over to rub his wife's protruding stomach.

"I didn't decide anything! How was I supposed to deal with Judy's pushing reflexes?"

"Can we not talk about labor while I'm trying to eat breakfast?" her mother piped up, while Max nodded absently. Now he was looking at the clock strangely.

"Speaking of 'later'," Chaya commented slowly. "We – "

"Oh my God, we're late!" Max cried, jumping up so fast that he nearly knocked over his chair and succeeded in nudging the table. "Dad, can you _please_ give us a lift?"

"Hn…fine, but consider that your birthday favor…"

(-)

"Never fear, _mes amis_, for we are here," Chaya crowed as she skidded into the circle of her friends, Max lagging behind her.

Johnny sent her an unimpressed look. "Okay, you just lost fifty points for stealing my line and my entrance."

"Deal with it," Chaya stuck her tongue out at him. "May I introduce our lovely resident sweet-sixteenian, in all of his blond glory?"

"Shut up," Max grumbled at her, turning red as Tyson leaned over to mooch a kiss from him.

"Happy birthday," he said to his boyfriend. Max expression lightened.

"Oh, you can grin when it's your hanky-panky partner but not when it's me?" Chaya demanded. "How is that fair?"

"What was that Chays? I saw your lips moving but all I heard was 'blah, blah, blah'," Max taunted, wrapping his arms around Tyson and making a face at his sister.

"Of course that's all you heard, you got randy yaoi thoughts clogging your brain, what with the amount of anime smut you watch."

"I don't watch anime smut!"

"I saw you!"

"Once! And it was Flash's fault!"

Flash sniggered, ignoring everyone else's looks.

"Anyone know what the hell's going on?" Iris mumbled.

"Nope," Taryn replied, watching the heated argument in amusement.

"Should we break it up?"

Taryn regarded the two red-faced blonds. "Maybe we shouldn't interfere."

"Why? We always interfere."

"So…how about a game of basketball?" Tyson said loudly, moving around so that his arms were hanging around both Chaya and Max's shoulders. The twins looked at each other and then at Tyson, the argument seeming to ebb away.

"Chays and I aren't supposed to play basketball."

"Heh, who says? Your mom?" Johnny teased.

"Our dad, actually," Chaya said absently.

"Why?" Miyami questioned, looking puzzled.

"Uh…" Max looked away. "See there was this one game and instead of trying to score by getting the ball through the hoops we tried to score by knocking the ball in each others faces."

"Yeah, I kinda broke Max's nose – "

" – and I knocked her out for the day."

"It wasn't pretty," Chaya finished.

"Not my fault you're so damn competitive."

Chaya glared and then raised her hand to her ear, mimicking a telephone with her fingers. "Hello, kettle? This is the pot. You're black."

"Don't get me starte – "

"Alright, now's the time that we're all going to move," Taryn announced, grabbing Chaya by the scruff of her neck and hauling her off with her, Miyami and Johnny. "Let's have some cool-off time, okay?"

"Lemme go, Tar, I ain't finished yet – "

"And this me not caring," Taryn replied, pulling her off and pushing her into another corridor. Johnny watched in fascination.

"You are…like, my hero," he said earnestly. "I mean, no one actually manages to get away with saying stuff like that to her."

"It's the one advantage to being universally despised," Taryn smirked, looking eerily like her brother for a moment. "You get to say whatever you want. Unchallenged."

"Whatever," Chaya rolled her eyes, turning to look over at her best friend. "And you, babes, why're you so quiet today? Usually you're ranting at me because you need to copy my history notes or something."

Miyami let out a loud, over-dramatic sigh, putting her wrist to her forehead comically. "And why would I bug someone who obviously has no time for la moi?"

"Uh…you talkin' 'bout what now?"

"Well obviously, since you and Kai started getting closer, there's been no room for me, the resident third wheel," her silver-eyed friend said, pretending to cry. "And I can only leech off of Taryn for so long since she's got that thing for Aaron in senior year – "

"Now you're putting words in my mouth," Taryn chided darkly, although a light blush had passed over her features.

" – I will soon know the loss felt by the great George Washington when Napoleon beat him at Pearl Harbor…," Miyami mock-sobbed again, while Chaya and Taryn exchanged disgusted looks.

"Well that explains your history marks – or lack thereof," the blond remarked, shaking her head. "I think you should work on your pop-culture references, 'Yami." Her friend cleared her throat, suddenly looking as though she had forgotten everything. Indeed, she was not grinning at Chaya in a very disturbing manner that made Chaya want to run for cover. "Uhm…what?"

"How was your date with the infamous Kai Hiwatari, anyway?"

"…and how do you know about that?" Chaya narrowed her eyes.

"Well, Max told Tyson and Tyson told me, and I told – "

Chaya flexed her fingers threateningly, giving off the impression that she wanted to choke someone. "Remind me to give Max extra-hard birthday beats today."

"Make sure to give Max extra hard birthday beats today," Taryn repeated childishly, earning a glare from Chaya.

"So? You never answered me," Miyami reached over to prod Chaya. "Tell meeee!"

"Mmm…ninety-percent good."

"And the other twenty-percent?"

"Creepy."

Her friends laughed at her and she glared. Obviously they didn't understand how weird it was to have actually spent more than an hour (unwillingly too) in the company of someone she had been plotting to kill painfully since she had met them. She was still trying to figure it out, but as time went on, Miyami's suggestion to 'go with the flow' was pulling her determinedly towards it. Damn.

"So, is it official that you two are 'together'?" Miyami chatted, and Chaya raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean, official? We have to fill out forms now, or what?"

"You know what I mean, smart-ass."

"Yeah, I do, but that doesn't mean I'm going to answer you – "

"Don't look now, but my brother is just up ahead."

An it was true. Kai was surrounded by the usual group, Tala, Bryan, Oz and a few scantily clad girls that were flirting shamelessly with the four of them. Chaya felt her cheeks blaze when he noticed her, nodding slightly, and at the same time one of the girls leaned up to squeeze his shoulder. She flexed her fingers again. Oh, someone was so going to die today…

Deciding to ignore the bastard for now, she turned back to her friends, making grudging conversation despite the fact that the three of them were looking interestedly towards Kai.

And she found out why seconds later when arms wrapped around her and she was pulled upwards to meet Kai's lips halfway. For a moment she was stunned, and then ire rose up and she whipped her hand upward, the palm connecting with his face and making him push himself away from her, cradling the red hand-imprint across his cheek. The girls that had been flirting with him all gasped, glaring at her as though she'd committed some kind of homicidal offense.

He glared. "What is with your absolute need for hitting me? Is it some sort of fetish to leave red marks on my face or something?"

"No, it's to tell you to stop treating me like an object," she snapped, folding her arms over her chest. "You can't just haul me into one of your make-out sessions because you feel like it, you selfish prick. Who the hell do you think you are?"

"Yeah, well maybe you should loosen up and not be such a frigid bitch," he replied stonily, looming over her. "Something bothering you?" Then he grinned. "Oh, I get it. You're still ticked off about Saturday, huh?" She went to punch him again, but this time he caught her hand and leered at. "Nice try, Chays."

"Shut up – and no, this is not about Saturday!" she yelled, irritated. She could sense there was a rather large crowed gathering around them, having obviously expected another fistfight and yet no blood had been spilled yet. "This is about you learning to treat my like a human and not a toy."

"Are you still on that? I do respect you – except when you're trying to hit me or insult me."

"Yeah, well you deserve every one of each of those things. And more!"

"Would you grow up, you immature little freak?"

"After you, dickwad."

"Dyke!"

"Go drink chlorine, fuckwad."

"After you."

She narrowed her eyes, tensing completely. 'Damn him. I'm going to turn that bastard's head into a paper-weight when this is over!' "Maybe I will – if it'll get me as far away from you as possible. I hear the after-life is actually quite calming compared to here. And considering there's no you there – hey, I'm surprised they haven't been printing up advertising flyers."

"Honestly, Mizuhara, that was so lame it needed crutches."

"You're going to need crutches in – "

She was interrupted by an amused drawl that made the entire crowd go quiet. "I hate to break up this lovely exchange of creative slurs, but the bell rang five minutes ago and it seems half the school is late for class." Nobody moved, and Mr. Turner remained completely calm for a moment before narrowing his eyes. "Move it. Now."

The crowd around them was evidently larger than Chaya had thought, because when they all began to mull around looking for their books and their classes, the hallway sounded like someone had just let off a fire-cracker; Shouts and panicked mumblings galore. Chaya continued to match Kai glare for glare, until Turner swept forward and pried them away from each other. "Mr. Hiwatari I believe you have English at this precise moment, am I correct? And Miss Mizuhara, you are tardy for my history quiz. I recommend that you both get moving otherwise I will have you incarcerated in the detention room together where you will be able to confer over whatever matters have kept you riveted on each other for the past ten minutes."

There was a pause.

"Whoa…he said what now?" Chaya heard Miyami ask, and Turner sent her an unimpressed look.

"Go home and open a book, Miss Granger."

"…what?"

"Oh, come on," Chaya grumbled, finally breaking her glaring contest with Kai and dragging her friends off towards the history room, gnashing her teeth. She…wanted…to punch…kill…grrr….

""Dude," Miyami was saying to her. "I think it's a record. That's got the be the shortest dating relationship in this school."

"Oh, then you're obviously forgetting the week that bastard Ivanov began dating two girls in the same day after the morning bell rang and broke it off with both before the 'go-home-bell' rang."

"Oh yeah…forgot about that." Miyami laughed sheepishly. "So…"

"So."

There was an uncomfortable silence for a moment, before Johnny cleared his throat. "Hey, you know what? You women are so lucky." He was sent questioning stared from the three girls. "No I mean it! I mean, you get to see breasts whenever you look in the mirror. I have to actually work for it." The stares turned into glares.

Taryn stopped walking for a moment. "Do either of you want to hit him, or shall I?"

Chaya laughed out loud as Johnny ducked for cover as her two friends made a break for him, thankful that Johnny had been able to get the subject changed so easily. In fact, if she didn't know better, she'd have thought he'd planned it…

(-)

Chaya grumbled as she left the gym locker room, deciding that she hated her gym teacher beyond all reason. The butch looking woman had given her ten suicides just because she had said she chose favorites – all the time while Claire smirked at her from the comfort of place by the wall. Her legs hurt, her pride hurt and she was pretty sure that not only had she just gotten a very low mark in gym class, she knew she'd done poorly in her history quiz.

And that was what had really stung.

So, all in all, this day totally suck –

"My God, you take long in there. Don't tell me it takes you an hour to pull a brush through your hair."

She looked up in surprise, her gaze resting on Kai, who was leaning against the door from the gym, smirking at her. He was dressed warmly in his jacket and scarf, holding out her backpack and jacket.

"You went into my locker!"

"Uh, no, Miyami went into your locker because I asked her to," he rolled his eyes. "Again with the whole 'assume the worst' complex. Here's a thought – try something new. This one's getting old."

She stalked forward, grabbing her bag and jacket. "I don't have a complex."

"Yeah, and I'm just a little hot." She sent him an unimpressed look and he grinned at her. "Come on, admit it."

"I still have to get my homework, moron."

"Nope. I already got it for you –again, Miyami got it – I just stood there holding the bag while she jabbered away about some redhead she's stalking."

Chaya groaned, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "That's so Miyami…" She looked up at him suspiciously, and then sighed, looking back at the book-bag in her hands. For a moment she debated with herself, and then she groaned inwardly. What she was about to do was going to hurt. A lot.

"…thank you."

Kai blinked. "Huh?"

She winced again. "I said thank you. For getting my books. It was – " Thoughtful? Nice? Totally out of character for him to do something like that? " – unexpected."

He looked a little wary, before reaching over to feel her forehead. "Are you sick or something? It sounded like you just thanked me…"

She swatted his hand away angrily, already feeling the burn. Oh, she was going to kill him… "I did."

No he looked pleasantly surprised. "Really? Oh…then can I have it in writing?"

She growled, "Don't push it."

"Check."

He followed her as she pushed the door out of the school open, and then wrapped his arm around her waist as they walked. "What are you doing?"

"Hm…kidnapping you again," he replied smugly. "See, I heard from this very reliable source that Tyson's taking Max out for his birthday and instead of letting you walk home all by your lonesome in this cold almost Canadian weather – " she snorted, " – I'm taking you out for coffee. Or something else, considering you don't drink coffee. And don't argue, because if I have to hoist you over my shoulder again, I will."

Pause.

"Oh. 'Kay."

Again, Kai seemed stunned and looked over at her closely. "What, no struggling? No verbal abuse? No physical assaults on my face?"

"What, you want me to?" she snapped, actually raising her hand to hit him. He caught her hand and wrestled it around so that she could hit him.

"No. Just checking to make sure you're actually you and not one of those weird flirting freak girls that follow me around. Those ones are the creepy kind, and I'm pretty sure one of them has a father in plastic surgery business."

"Che, sure, and who would want to look like me? I'm a freak of nature."

"Yeah, you're right."

"Hiwatari!"

>0

* * *

And so really begins the tumultuous future for Chaya and Kai – it took me writing this chapter to realize how OOC I made Kai. Damn, that wasn't my initial intention. But hey, I guess it works for this particular story. Although, in my archived version at Media miner I think I'll begin to try to make the story flow better and remain more true to the characters. But while it's here on I'll make Kai the ever-loveable bastard that he is. 

Again, sorry for the lateness, I only got reinspired today – when I was alone and without anyone in my family to bug me because my brother's back at school, my parents are at work, I start college next week and all's right with the world.

WOOT!

Hopefully the next update will show up sooner,

Ciaoza,

Kuriness


	27. Silicon Strife

**_Burning in the Sea_**

Author: KuriQuinn

Title: Burning in the Sea

Fandom: Bakuten Shoot Beyblade

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade, never will and have no intention of leading a crusade to try to own them. That's too much money and too much effort. However, I do like to manipulate the characters to do my bidding because it amuses me and countless others. This is the only disclaimer you will see in this fic, so if you decide to review me saying that I didn't give credit to the real person that came up with Beyblade (Aoki Takao) I will calmly tell you to go screw yourself. That is all.

Fanfiction Disclaimer: Chaya is my own creation, as is Haley, Jennifer, Claire and anyone else that you don't recognize. Miyami Kinomiya belongs to Mags, my best friend. Aurelia Delk belongs to Band-Freak aka Lobo-Chan. Flash Jameson belongs to Flash, Iris Messana belongs to Iz.

Rating: R for language, mature themes and mature humor

Pairing: Figure it out.

Takes-Place: Alternate Universe

Summary: When you live in small town, where everything and everyone is the same, what are you supposed to do? Why, wreak whatever hell you can, of course

**

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Silicon Strife **

"Happy-happy birthday! From all of us to you! I wish it was my birthday, so I could party too!" Chaya tried to duck the swiftly flying fists of a very hyper-active Flash and hold onto her cards at the same time, sending Miyami an annoyed look. Her best friend shrugged with a grin and Chaya winced as she suddenly felt her shoulder being dealt sixteen teeth-jarring punches.

Chaya and Miyami were playing War by their lockers, waiting for the bell that signified the beginning of class to ring, once in a while looking over their shoulder in case Clarkson showed up. It was against school rules to be loitering or hanging around the hallways at lunch time. They weren't even allowed to get their books because they might disturb the classes going on downstairs.

Not that anyone actually followed the rules around here…

Her entire frame shaking with ever birthday beat, she managed to bite out, "Who gave him vanilla this time?"

"Not me," Miyami shrugged, slapping a Jack down onto the floor. Chaya angled herself to the right, still trying to get away from the over-enthusiastic Flash, and flipped out another card. A Two.

"Damn it."

"Heh. I'm winning."

"I noticed."

"So, what'd you get for your birthday?"

Chaya grinned, both at the fact that she finally managed to win a tiny hand, and at the memory of her gift. "Laptop. My parents got sick of me constantly monopolizing the computer downstairs."

"Sweet. Got Internet hook-up?"

"No, bu – ow, Flash, that hurt!"

The blond boy grinned, his golden eyes glittering evilly. Chaya rolled her eyes and was about to look back to her game when she noticed Kai standing behind Flash, looking unimpressed. "Oh, would you look who it is."

The slate-haired senior made a face. "I wanted to be the first to give you birthday beats."

Chaya raised an eyebrow. "Isn't it nice that you want to beat up on me? What a caring boyfriend I have."

He smirked. "You said the 'b' word. You owe me ten bucks."

"Ya-huh. In your dreams," she tossed her head indifferently. "But while you're here, you can help us answer the mysterious question – do you know who gave Flash vanilla?"

"And I would 'why'?" Kai drawled, looking as though he was considering sitting down with them, but then decided not to. Obviously it seemed that if he sat with them he would be distorting his 'cool' image, or something like that. "You mean he's not like this normally?"

"No," Miyami answered. "He's usually silent enough to rival your buddy Kuznetsov."

Kai snorted. "No one's that quiet."

"Bets?" Chaya offered, a glint in her eyes. Kai seemed to sense the way this conversation was going and decided to watch as Flash sashayed across the hallways, walking like an Ancient Egyptian. "That's what I thought."

"Don't get so cocky," he warned her, turning away from the scene and looking down at the two girls. "You're playing War? Don't you know anything more intellectually stimulating?"

"Nothing that would be of interest to your minute level of intelligence."

"Oh, nice. Read the dictionary last night, did you?"

"Worse. Two hour grammar lesson with Turner," Chaya said, her lips pursed. "And now I have to deal with a whiny rich-boy that's trying to insult me."

"Hey," crimson eyes seemed to glint with amusement. "Let's clarify something here. When you're rich, you're not crazy – you're eccentric." Chaya sent him an unimpressed, questioning look. "I had Turner too."

"Aw, look at who's finally getting along," Miyami cooed. "You guys are getting close."

"Any closer and we'd have World War Three," was the remark and Chaya stuck out her tongue as her brother appeared, followed closely by Tyson. "The question is, who'd set off the nuclear war-heads first?"

"I bet it'd be Kai. Mr. Russia over there with the nuclear-bomb stocks –"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kai glared. "You trying to say something to me, Miss Pearl-Harbour Incendiary?"

Chaya's eyes flashed. "Come again."

"You heard what I said."

"I didn't like what I heard."

"Yeah, well, you insulted my people first."

"Not your people, just you. I was speaking out of context, dumb-ass."

" Moron."

"Xenophobe."

"Hypocrite."

"Large mouth bass."

Kai opened his mouth, and then stared at her, looking completely nonplussed. "Ex_cuse_ me?"

She grinned. "You heard me."

"Did you finally lose inspira – "

"YODA-SAN ATTACK!" Flash yelled, skidding forward, the soles of his shoes squeaking against the floor as he barrelled down the hall. A foot away from Chaya and co, he tripped and tumbled forward, almost falling but then hooking his arm around Kai's neck to steady himself.

"OW, damn it!" the senior yelled loudly, pushing Flash off of him and glaring while Chaya laughed. Flash straightened himself up, for a moment looking soberly at them, before grinning and launching himself at Kai.

"My hero!" he yelled, and in front of the shocked audience, he leaned up and firmly planted his lips against Kai's, before cackling and running off.

Kai didn't move for the next two minutes, a glazed look of disbelief on his face. Chaya couldn't help it. He looked so completely stunned and out of it. She found herself rolling around on the floor, laughing hysterically, joined by Tyson, Max and Miyami.

All down the hall, people were staring over at Kai in absolute shock, except for the ones that were so scared of him that they could only manage amused looks out of the corners of their eyes.

The slate-haired teen seemed to come to himself and turned a violent shade of red, before glaring in each direction.

"Where the hell did that little pouf go, I'm going to kill him!" he snarled, actually moving to go after Flash on a warpath. Chaya jumped up, deciding to intervene and keep her friend from dying a slow and painful death, and grabbed onto Kai from behind.

"Chill out, Hiwatari," she sniggered, still laughing. She couldn't get the picture of his utter shock out of her head. "Leave Flashie alone."

"That goddamned fruit is going to get it the next time I see him," Kai continued growling, trying to walk forward and free himself even though Chaya had practically dug her heals into the floor and was keeping him from going anywhere. "Let go of me, kid."

"Would you relax?" she demanded, and then grinned. "Why Kai, I didn't know you could blush! Is that all it takes? Being kissed by another guy?" Her boyfriend whirled around on her, forcing her to release him, narrowing his eyes and looking as though he wanted to kill her.

She sighed and crossed her arms, rolling her eyes skyward. "Is it me? Is it like I have a beacon that only hairless cats and guys with severe emotional problems and phobias have?"

"I don't have any phobias," Kai glared. "I have issues with your friends, they're morons."

"Hey!" Miyami, Tyson and Max chorus, although Chaya and Kai ignored them.

"And your friends are complete assholes, you don't see me having a problem with them."

Kai didn't look impressed with her argument. "You doused them with yellow paint last week."

Chaya blinked innocently. "You're point?"

"Uh…I win!" Miyami yelled, once again playing the role of the peace maker between the feuding couple, causing heads to turn yet again towards the little group.

Chaya, who was opening her mouth to say something to Kai, paused and looked down at the cards, seeing that Miyami was now holding all the cards in the deck. She looked down to her hands, where she had been holding her deck for the past ten minutes, and then glared down at Miyami. "You cheated!"

Miyami grinned. "Yes, I did. But that's who I am. I'm a cheater. I don't play by the rules or let people tell me to do things a certain was as if there wasn't another way that might be better. I cheated and I won."

"Gimme!" Chaya snapped, crouching down to get her cards back.

Miyami narrowed her eyes and held onto the deck. "Hands off unless you want to learn how to play cards with your tongue."

Chaya held up her hands defensively, although Tyson laughed out loud and said, "Actually, that would be pretty cool."

"Chaya-Amelia and Maximilian Mizuhara!"

The twins looked up at the sound of their names. Chaya's stomach seemed to sink when she recognized Ms. Clarkson's form down the hall. She was stalking forward, her face pulled into a grim expression. Immediately, Chaya saw Miyami flip the cards into the recesses of her jeans, and the rest of her friends stood as well, hoping that the gremlin-like vice-principal hadn't noticed them loitering.

The strange thing was, she didn't seem to.

She marched up to the twins and made a face, before pointing down the hall. "Please come to the office immediately."

"I didn't do it, whatever it was," Chaya said instantaneously, as she and Max were prodded towards the office.

Clarkson was not impressed. "I do not appreciate you're attempt at humour right now, Chaya-Amelia." She turned to follow them but found that Kai was blocking her, looking suspicious. "What do you want, Mr. Hiwatari?"

"What about me?"

"What about you?" the woman sniffed. "Just because Chaya-Amelia goes to the office doesn't mean you will too. Just because it usually happens doesn't mean it will continue." She glanced around at the group of teenagers gathered around her, including the newly returned Flash, and glowered. "Aren't you supposed to be in classes now?"

No one moved.

"What's going on?" Miyami asked, making a face. Chaya studied her, and then studied Clarkson.

A strange feeling appeared in the pit of her stomach, almost like an inflating balloon. There was something up. Usually Clarkson would have said exactly what was wrong, not stalled this way.

"I fail to see where that is your business, Miyami. What I have to discuss with these two is between the three of us alone."

"That's bull," Miyami grumbled. "They're our friends. And we're going to hear about it anyway."

"Detention, Miyami, for having attitude with me," Clarkson sniffed. "Now all of you get to class before I make it a Saturday morning one. For _all of you_."

Although her friends didn't move to skulk off, Chaya and Max found themselves being led towards the office of doom, both casting glances at each other out of the corner of their eyes. The walk to the office seemed shorter than usual, but only because Chaya was trying to think of anything that she and Max could have possibly done to be called to the office.

Herself she could understand – maybe Clarkson had finally realized who it was that had drilled her office door shut – but Max? What had Max ever done to get into trouble, except be caught making out with Tyson in the hall closet on the second floor by the old homophobic bat?

They were two steps from the door, when Clarkson stood in front of it and motioned for them to continue walking. When Chaya sent her a completely befuddled look, Clarkson looked grave. "The principal would like a word with the two of you."

It was at this point that Chaya's inner warning siren began to shriek at her. Something was definitely not right if the principal wanted to talk to her. The only other time she could remember having to see him was last year when she had had to promise to be good or face expulsion. As for Max…

If it had something to do with them, it obviously had something to do with the family, so –

"What's going on?" Chaya demanded, her voice quiet but laced with warning.

"Principal Dickinson will tell you once you're in his office," Clarkson said stonily, continuing to motion them towards the next office. "Kindly wait until you get inside."

"Kindly piss off," Chaya retorted angrily. "There's something wrong, I know it. You wouldn't be beating around the bush so much if there wasn't. Is this whole 'other office' thing supposed to calm us down? Because it doesn't –"

Amazingly, Clarkson didn't reply, instead, Chaya felt her brother prod her and then pull her towards the principal's office. She glared hatefully at Clarkson's back, wishing all the bad stuff she could think of on the woman, before the door closed behind her, cutting the woman out of her line of vision.

"Ah, there you two are," a grave voice said and the twins glanced over, noticing for the first time the gentlemanly older man that was sitting at the corner desk. Although he was taller and more robust than Clarkson, he seemed to command less of a presence. His kindly face was drawn in a look of severity as he motioned for them to sit down. Max did as he was told, although Chaya stood defiantly, her eyes daring him to tell her off.

He didn't, but looked down at his clasped hands.

"I'm afraid…I regret to inform you that there's been an accident."

Although a second passed, Chaya felt a multitude of thoughts flood through her at what such an ambiguous statement could mean. From the minute and unimportant issues of school matters or delinquencies to the terrifying possibility of someone having died, Chaya felt the color drain from her face.

"Accident?" Max repeated, his voice sounding low and emotionless. "What do you mean?"

"I'm afraid your mother was involved in a terrible car accident this morning. An SUV slammed into her car on her way to work this morning. She's been sent to the hospital, but – "

"THIS MORNING!" Chaya demanded, panic etched in her voice. "This happened this morning and you didn't fucking tell us until now? That could have been hours ago! She left for work at six! It's now fucking one-thirty – why didn't you come get us sooner!"

Dickinson cleared his throat. "Normally an outburst like that would cost you some freedom on a Saturday morning, Chaya, but today I will make an exception. As I was about to say, your father didn't want you to be told until the danger period was over. Your mother is fine; she's stabilized and is even awake now."

"And the baby?" Max asked, sounding as serious as Chaya felt.

Dickinson's face grew more strained and Chaya imagined her heart being grasped by a clawed hand. "I have no news on that as of yet. Your father did not tell me any intimate details, I expect he would like to tell you himself. He will be here to pick you up in a few minutes."

Chaya's legs gave out and she felt her knees suddenly hitting the floor as gravity won yet another battle. This could mean anything, but if her father didn't want to talk about it…could Judy have miscarried? It wasn't such a farfetched theory.

Her mind was focused intently on the problem at hand, trying to understand why her father wouldn't tell them what was going on until he got there. Hadn't they been kept in the dark enough so far? The accident had happened hours ago and they were only…only now…but…

Dickinson and Max were trying to help her onto the couch, one that was much more comfortable than the piece of ironing board in Clarkson's office, Chaya noticed. She could also suddenly perceive the almost unseen light fluxions and the shadows of the desk, and the rough feel of the carpet under her shoes and the way the air in the stale office seemed to be roaring in her ears.

Max was clutching her hand so tightly she was sure that it would break if he put anymore pressure on it, but it didn't hurt. She felt almost as though everything had been numbed over. The clock's ticking was the only thing that could disturb the roar of the air. Dickinson's pitying looks were wasted as she counted down the minutes.

Her father would be here soon and everything would be okay. Everything would be alright…

Right?

* * *

Short, sweet, to the point. These will continue until I manage to rewrite Burning in the Sea in my new style. To check out new and more detailed style, DITC has been re-edited, ten percent longer and better written with less of a character conflict. Enjoy. 

TBC

KuriQuinn


	28. Pot Roast Infinity

_**Drowning in the Clouds**_

Author: KuriQuinn

Title: Burning in the Sea

Fandom: Bakuten Shoot Beyblade

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade, never will and have no intention of leading a crusade to try to own them. That's too much money and too much effort. However, I do like to manipulate the characters to do my bidding because it amuses me and countless others. This is the only disclaimer you will see in this fic, so if you decide to review me saying that I didn't give credit to the real person that came up with Beyblade (Aoki Takao) I will calmly tell you to go screw yourself. That is all.

Fanfiction Disclaimer: Chaya is my own creation, as is Haley, Jennifer, Claire and anyone else that you don't recognize. Miyami Kinomiya belongs to Mags, my best friend. Aurelia Delk belongs to Band-Freak aka Lobo-Chan. Flash Jameson belongs to Flash, Iris Messana belongs to Iz.

Rating: R for language, mature themes and mature humor

Pairing: Figure it out.

Takes-Place: Alternate Universe

Summary: When you live in small town, where everything and everyone is the same, what are you supposed to do? Why, wreak whatever hell you can, of course

Note: **_WARNING! IMPORTANT! STOP READING RIGHT NOW OR RISK CONFUSION_**! ;:ahem:; As you all noticed, I took a rather long absence from my last update of BITS. In this time, I revamped and edited both Drowning in the Clouds and Burning in the Sea. They are now better written, not as plot-less and I fleshed out the characters a little better. Also, I took out a few characters (like Miriam), moved around certain events and took out some stuff completely. If you don't want to be confused, go back to the **_very_** beginning.  
Enjoy.

**

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Pot-Roast Infinity**

Chaya stared up at the white-washed ceiling of the hospital, studying the tiles that composed it. They were spread across the entire waiting room, wall to wall, with tiny black ventilation holes in them; Chaya had counted nine hundred and sixty tiles, and when she'd finished doing that, she had then counted one million, forty-two thousand, seven hundred and sixty of the little ventilation holes. After losing count over fifteen times.

And the doctors still hadn't come out of the operating room.

Max had been pacing up and down the waiting room for the past hour, not looking at her and making noises that she couldn't figure out – where they growls, or was he trying not to cry? Beside her, her father stared off into space, completely silent and his face void of his usual smile.

Chaya vaguely remembered the last time that she and her family had been in the hospital – it had been her fault. The asthma attack from last year had brought them into the hospital, but somehow that didn't seem as worrisome as what was going on now. Sure, her mother had been in stable condition – at least that's what her father had told her and Max when he had picked them up – but apparently the baby had gone into distress because of the shock to Judy's womb. That's what the surgeons were working on rectifying now. If not…

Chaya shifted uncomfortably in her chair. She knew that it was possible for a baby to survive even if it had only reached half of its development. But the chances of the child being able to live a normal light were not as high as she hoped. As far as she knew, the baby was only twenty-six weeks and five days along – they would be cutting it close.

If she survived, that is…

She looked up, her head almost throwing itself from her body as she recognized one of the doctors coming down the hall, slowly taking off his mask. Chaya's heart wrenched painfully, taking this gesture to mean what it usually meant on television – that someone was in trouble, or even dead. Her brother and father were on both her sides, almost like two human pillars.

Chaya couldn't even stand.

"How is she?" her father asked, his voice hushed and weary. They had been here the entire day and as far as she could tell, it was getting close to night. All that time had passed as slowly as if the world were stuck in reverse.

The nameless doctor seemed to hesitate for a moment, before saying, "As you've been told, your wife's condition is stable. However, we've been trying to wait it out, just to see if the shock might correct itself. In some cases, even after a tremendous shock, the fetus is able to continue with it's period of gestations – " Chaya mentally yelled at the clueless doctor for dragging out the answer her father had been trying to glean from him, " – however, in your wife's case…the baby can not remain in the womb or your wife will suffer a miscarriage and lose the baby."

Max let out a moan and Chaya stared, watching her father's stricken, calculating face. Her father had the look of someone fighting a losing battle, and Chaya felt like something inside her was dying.

The doctor cleared his throat again, and then said in a business-like voice, "Your wife asked me to talk to you before we proceed. Your options are this, Mr. Mizuhara – if we don't induce her and deliver the baby, there is no possibility of both coming out of this alive or without health risks. Your wife will miscarry and there is a possibility of haemorrhaging. There is a small chance that, at twenty-six weeks, your child will live. Premature babies have a larger chance of living today then they did fifty years ago. But she will not be without massive behavioural problems – she will never live a normal life and there is a sixty percent chance that she will develop Down's syndrome."

There was a heavy silence that fell over the four people, and Chaya knew that her father now had to make a decision. The gravity of the situation was not lost on her. His decision would have severe ramifications for the rest of their lives – if the child died, that would be a memory that would cause a lot of tension to come. If she survived, life would never be the same again for anyone in the family.

And Judy…for a moment, Chaya's thoughts were trained on her mother, who was probably in pain on some gurney somewhere, probably praying that the child she had been carrying for the last six months would live.

Her father's response time staggered her, as well as the force of his words as he pointed in the direction that the doctor had come from, "You will get back in that room, and you will help my wife deliver our daughter as fast and as safely as humanly possible, do you understand?"

The doctor looked surprised for a moment, and then a tentatively encouraging smile appeared on his face, "That was what she said you would say – I have to tell you, Mr. Mizuhara, the procedure is with certain risk. You wife is already under anaesthesia. You're in for the long haul."

And he was gone, leaving the little family together; the twins regarding their father with a note of hero-worship each of their eyes. Chaya felt like crying and laughing at the same time, and ended up settling on hugging her father tightly around the torso. Her towering brother joined them, pressing her between them, and for the first time that day she felt safe and that everything was going to be alright.

She felt her father chuckle, weak and almost as more of a show to his children, "They really think we're going to lose your sister I think."

"They don't know how tough it is to get rid of a Mizuhara," Chaya rejoined, trying to sound enthusiastic and ready to fight, instead of ready to throw up. "It's all going to be alright, right?"

No one answered her and she pretended that she hadn't noticed.

The wait was on again, the only sound in the entire room the ticking of the clock in the corner. Even the nurses in the nurse station were silent as the grave, unless they were conversing quietly with the incoming patients. Chaya debated about counting the little holes in the tiles again, but decided against it. She would probably end up falling asleep and she wanted to do that as much as she wanted to commit ritualistic suicide.

Every once in a while Max or her father would get up and walk away, probably looking for information, but Chaya found that she couldn't move any more. If she had thought that the waiting before had killed her, she was dying and in hell right now. Before it had been a matter of possibly coming out of it with Judy's life safe – now it was about the two of them; her estranged mother and the little sister she hadn't even gotten the chance to meet yet. If whatever deity existed above them took either of them…

She couldn't even finish the thought, because it made her want to throw up everything she had eaten in the last – she glanced at the clock – ten hours. Which hadn't been much.

The time was inching closer and closer to midnight with each shudder of the minute-hand. Her neck hurt from repeatedly looking up when a doctor would walk past casually, or when someone hurried through the hallway. It was almost as though the panic was permanently planted into her body and she was too afraid of it to wish it away.

Max fell asleep on her shoulder around twelve-ten in the morning, and her father continued to stare aimlessly into space. He had asked before if there was anything that he could do or if he could be part of, but the doctors and surgeons had shrugged him off, telling him he would do more harm than good. Chaya shivered, angry at them. 'The man just wants to be with his wife, you should have no right to – '

"Mr. Mizuhara?"

Instantly, they were all on their feet, even Max, who had a telltale spot of drool on the corner of his mouth. Chaya's hand found his and they were both immediately fixed in a grip that might break each other's hands. The doctor's face was blank and Chaya wanted to yell at him for not giving them any indication of what was happening. Was it a rule somewhere that a poker face was a prerequisite to becoming a doctor?

"How is she? And the baby, what about – ?"

"Mr. Mizuhara," the doctor raised his hand so that he could speak. "The operation was a complete success – " Chaya screamed gleefully, vaulting around and grabbing onto her brother, who held her equally tightly. " – your wife is resting in the recovery room and your daughter is on her way to the NICU. Congratulations."

Chaya and Max were jumping up and down now, laughing and yelling gleefully, while their father could only gape at the doctor. Moments later he recovered himself, shushing his children, and asking the doctor hurried questions. "Is she alright? Is there damage – how bad? Is healthy, even if she is…even if – "

"For only twenty-six weeks, she's remarkably stable," the doctor smiled, in an almost gentle manner. "We've had her breathing tube inserted, her heart rate's been checked, footprints taken – she was just hooked up to the ventilator a few minutes ago. There is a chance that she will be placed on an oscillator."

"What's that?" Chaya asked, not liking the sound of it.

"It's a little bit different from a ventilator – ," he explained. " – a ventilator essentially inflates and deflates the baby's lungs, much like a bellows. The oscillator keeps the lungs open with a constant positive end-expiratory pressure and vibrates the air at a high rate. The vibration essentially helps gases to quickly diffuse in and out of the baby's airways without the same effects of the bellows, which may damage lung structure. In an infant that premature, it's important that their lungs remain as strong as possible."

"When can we see them?" Max wanted to know, still holding onto Chaya tightly. "I mean, I know as soon as they're stable, but can we – "

"Your mother is stable enough for you to see right now, although she's still under the influence of the anaesthesia," the man said, adjusting something on his clipboard. "She will have to remain here under observation for a few days – in her case I would say six – just to make sure that everything is alright. Delivering prematurely is as hard on the mother as it is the baby."

"And what about my sister?" Chaya asked, testing out the strange words on her tongue and for once mystified that she wasn't talking about Becky. "You said she was stable, but what does that mean? And when can we see her?"

"Before you see her a number of preparations are being made and we have to run some tests and diagnostics before you can see her – and it will be a long while before you can even hold her," the man warned. "Her weight will be checked and during the better part of her stay she'll be in a special bed to keep her warm and comfortable. We have to attach a pulse oxygen saturation meter and heart rate monitor, as well as umbilical IV lines. There will be a few x-rays involved and depending on what we find out about her condition, there will be medication – " Chaya's father looked alarmed, "- not to worry, in most cases it's merely an antibiotic. And, if the baby's temperature is stable then we can give her a bath – and from what I saw, she looks stable."

The information was overwhelming and technical, but Chaya would immediately tell that it was for the most part good news. She had a baby sister. It was unbelievable to think.

"Would you like to see Judy now?"

The answer to the doctor's question was but a silent nod, but it spoke volumes. The man smiled, and then personally led them down the hall and through the maternity ward. The recovery wing was beyond the delivery room, but Chaya was sure that no one had noticed the distance. They were all too intent on setting eyes on Judy, as though only seeing her with their own eyes could prove that she was alright and that the doctor wasn't lying.

When they were finally shown into the recovery room, everything else seemed to have disappeared. Chaya didn't notice the other woman that Judy was sharing the room with or the dingy hospital smell anymore. All she noticed was that all of a sudden she was in the middle of a group hug with her family, her ribs squished against the metal rail of the bed and that she didn't mind at all.

Her mother's face was worn and weary, her blond hair stringy around her face, and her eyes a testament to what she had just gone through. For a moment Chaya had more respect for her mother than she was sure she would ever again have for anyone else. The fact that she could come out of a near death experience with a smile and a daughter to show for it was amazing.

"How are you doing, honey?" Takato asked, holding his hand over his wife's as soon as they all broke apart.

"Better than you, it seems," Judy replied wryly. "You look as though you're about to fall over."

Max and Chaya laughed loudly at this, the tense air that had surrounded them for the past day disappearing in an instant. For now, everything was perfectly fine. Judy's words were dull and wry, sometimes more than simple because of the drugs she was under, but that didn't matter.

"Did you get to see her?"

"Was she healthy looking?"

"Can we go see her?"

Judy barely answered any of their questions, although she did answer how the delivery had gone and that she was experiencing mild discomfort. They had had to perform a Caesarean and Judy didn't want to reopen the stitches with too much movement. When they asked about seeing the baby, a nurse was luckily standing by, and told them easily that they would need a wheel-chair to be able to move Judy, but that it was probable that they could see the baby in the next hour or two.

"Has anyone called Becky? And my family?" Judy wanted to know, already intent on sharing the news of the baby with the rest of the family. Takato was just as eager, saying how he would need to call his family as well. Both of them complained about the hospital not allowing cell-phones and then teasingly squabbled over the telephone in the room with them

Chaya and Max remained silent, watching their parents, before exchanging glances. Both of them knew that their lives had just completely changed. They were as responsible for their sister as their parents were, and adjusting their lives to the new schedule was going to be hard in the beginning. But hopefully rewarding.

Chaya grinned at Max. "When she's home…you get diaper duty."

"Very funny."

(-)

"Can you see her?"

"Is that her over there?"

"No, it's the other one!"

"Both of you, quiet," Judy admonished from her wheelchair as the Mizuhara family stared through the clear glass that separated them from the preemie-enclosure. Inside were quite a few premature infants, all of them tiny and being supported with countless tubes and IV's. Some of them wore woollen caps and boots that kept them warm in addition to their little beds.

A small number of post-natal nurses and caregivers were going around the little room, keeping a close eye on each infant in turn. Chaya craned her neck, searching for her little sister. Her mother's finger was suddenly pointing towards the infant in the second closest bed.

"There she is."

What Chaya found herself looking at was the smallest human being she had ever seen. The infant was tiny, small enough to fit into both palms of her hand, with tiny limbs and appendages. She was lying on a soft bed, surrounded by all manner of equipment. Her skin was red and wrinkled but looked soft, and unlike some of the other preemies, she didn't have something stretched over her eyes. Even from her place, Chaya could see the dainty set of eyelashes covering them.

"She's beautiful," Chaya whispered, a strange, giddy-happy feeling in stomach. It left moments later when she noticed that along with all of the other medical apparatus that there was an IV with blood being fed into her baby sister's body. "What's that for?"

"In some cases a preemie needs blood transfusions," the nurse that was in charge of wheeling Judy explained calmly, as though to reassure Chaya, who really didn't like the look of the IV line. "In your sister's case, she's so premature that her body doesn't produce enough red blood cells. There are times when the body will be so stressed that it will destroy more than it needs to. Also, a lot of blood is taken for lab work – if by any chance she should enter critical condition it will be as frequent as every 2 hours. We try to take the bare minimum to run in the labs, but even that's a lot. Because of her premature state, her body is not able to replace the blood cells as fast as we extract them."

"How safe is the blood?" Judy wanted to know. "And is there any difference in it depending on age or health, or…"

A nurse inside leaned over the infant, making a note in her clipboard and then adjusting something on the ventilator.

"We've spoken to your husband already, Mrs. Mizuhara," the woman smiled, and Chaya stared at her father in confusion. "In the cases with infantile transfusions, the blood has to be donated by a family member who is an exact match or from a donor who is O-negative. Which your husband is."

"So that's where you went," Max said loudly, and they all cast proud glances on Chaya's father, who they noticed for the first time had a cotton-ball taped to his arm, just above the vein. Her father's blood-type had never really mattered to her, just as it had not mattered to her what blood type she and Max had. Now, however, it seemed to be a blessing.

"After we take the blood, it goes through a very strict screening process to keep it safe," the nurse continued to explain. "There are certain antibodies in the blood that will not affect an adult, but would have ramifications on a premature baby. In some cases the father's blood is ruled out as well because he may have antibodies – however it seems you were lucky."

"I think we all were," Chaya mused, more to herself than her family. However, when they were all suddenly looking at her, she felt her cheeks turn red and continued to stare at her baby sister. The infant's little chest was rising an falling delicately.

"There you are kids," her father was saying. "Meet your baby sister."

"I'm going to be the best big sister ever," Chaya promised. "I'll teach you all the ropes, make sure no one ever beats up on you without suffering the consequences, tell you right from wrong – but if you touch any of my stuff you're dead meat."

"Chaya!" her mother groaned, although she could tell it was laughingly.

She was smiling again.

"Hey, wait a minute," Max said suddenly, his voice loud in Chaya's left ear. "We still don't even have a name for her!"

* * *

Well, there we are. Yet another chapter and you'll be happy to know, my block on this story is over and I have it all planned out to the end – if you thought my action segment was going to end here, boy are you going to be surprised – mwaha!

I'm sure by now you have read my warning above and re-read the story. If not, I will know because I'm bound to get some stupid questions like "where's Miriam?" and "since when is Tala on the radio?". Please don't ask me stupid questions after all the work I put into revamping.

Hope this chapter was to your expectations,

Kuriness


	29. Living Dali

_**Drowning in the Clouds**_

Author: KuriQuinn

Title: Burning in the Sea

Fandom: Bakuten Shoot Beyblade

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade, never will and have no intention of leading a crusade to try to own them. That's too much money and too much effort. However, I do like to manipulate the characters to do my bidding because it amuses me and countless others. This is the only disclaimer you will see in this fic, so if you decide to review me saying that I didn't give credit to the real person that came up with Beyblade (Aoki Takao) I will calmly tell you to go screw yourself. That is all.

Fanfiction Disclaimer: Chaya is my own creation, as is Haley, Jennifer, Claire and anyone else that you don't recognize. Miyami Kinomiya belongs to Mags, my best friend. Aurelia Delk belongs to Band-Freak aka Lobo-Chan. Flash Jameson and Iris Messana are inspired by my real life friends, Flash and Iz. Just to clarify that…

Rating: R for language, mature themes and mature humor

Pairing: Figure it out.

Takes-Place: Alternate Universe

Summary: When you live in small town, where everything and everyone is the same, what are you supposed to do? Why, wreak whatever hell you can, of course

Thanks to: My beta and good friend Flash, who looked over everything and battled the Evil-Kuri-Grammar Monsters…thanks El Flashita…

**

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Living Dali**

"Are you sure we should be going back so soon – I mean, isn't it important to be there for Mom and the baby?" Chaya asked, uncertain. She glanced back and forth between Max and the school that loomed ahead of them. She could already see the school yard that was teeming with students and felt a lump of discomfort lodge in her throat. "I mean – we already missed most of the week, what's another day?"

Her brother looked at her with a look bordering on confusion and indifference, before snorting, "As touched as I am to see you worried about Mom and Mercedes, Dad said we weren't going to miss any more school – and he needs our help running the shop. Honestly, Chays, don't you ever listen?"

She made a face and stared at her feet.

Although she had wanted to take credit for naming her little sister, the entire family had had a hand in the decision. The book of baby names that her father had brought from home seemed to magically open on the page where the name _Mercedes_ was written, the word _mercy_ printed right next to it. Although her family wasn't deeply religious and in most cases followed different paths, all of them had agreed that some divine being had been merciful in letting the youngest member of the Mizuhara family live. In the end they decided on her having the same middle name as Judy's grandmother, Hannah.

"Chaya? Hello!" her brother's voice roused her from her thoughts and she glanced up at him. "There we go – you zoned out on me there for a minute. What are you thinking about?"

"How we should be either at the hospital with Mom and the baby or with dad at the court," Chaya grumbled. "What the hell is going to school going to accomplish –?"

"– uh, give us an education?"

"– I mean, I love the guys like they're extended family, but the only one that knows what I feel like right now is probably you, and –"

"CHAYA!"

"MAX!"

"Hey Chays, Maxie, over here!"

The two blond teenagers looked up to see a gaggle of teenagers surrounding the entrance of the school parking lot, waving madly at them. Chaya recognized Miyami and Tyson in the front, the other four not even attempting to move into the front spot.

She felt Max's arm encircle hers and through his smile and gritted teeth he mumbled, "Just go with the flow. It's only another seven hours and we can go to the hospital."

And before she could even think of formulating a reply, the twins were surrounded by a group of people that were clamoring to find out what had transpired within the past few days. It suddenly occurred to Chaya that she hadn't seen of spoken to anyone since she and Max had been rushed out of school two days before.

Suddenly Max wasn't anywhere near her and it was Miyami that was glomming onto her arm, looking at her expectantly and crying, "What the hell is wrong? Something serious happened, right? When you didn't call – are you alright? Is everything alright – Chaya?"

Chaya saw Max slip away with Tyson, who was leading him discreetly away from the crowd. She could sense the stoop in his walk, recognizing his slowly disappearing stance as him telling Tyson all that had transpired. Looking around at the five faces that surrounded her, she felt herself wishing for just a moment that she had someone like Max had to fall against.

Kai's face came to mind, but she shook it off, remembering that all they really had together was mutual attraction fed by insults and arguments. Trusting Kai with intimate secrets about how she felt would be like freely handing him over ammunition against her. She still hadn't forgiven him for the stolen journals incident months before.

She pasted her usual brazen smirk on her face, allowing reassurance to shine through and hurried to say, "Everything's okay now – it turned out fine."

"What happened though?" Miyami insisted, and Chaya looked again at her friends. Ray, Iris, Flash and Johnny were behind Miyami, and the five of them were waiting expectantly for Chaya's explanation. She felt a sense of dread at having to talk about everything, but knew that eventually her friends would find out anyhow.

"Well, I have a new baby-sister," she said, attempting to sound casual and adding her usual devil-may-care smirk to the comment. It took about three seconds, before there was a new clamour from her friends, this time in confusion and wanting to know the details of what had happened.

She told them the story slowly, trying not to leave out anything important but at the same time trying to keep too much emotion and worry out of her voice. She didn't want to sound anything other than hopeful, just in case they started throwing her a pity party. That was something she couldn't handle at the moment.

"Holy shit man," Miyami whistled as the group walked into the General Assembly being held in the study hall that morning. "So you're sure everything's okay?"

"Yeah, everything and everyone is good," the blond girl assured as the five teens sat in some of the empty chairs near the back of the room. It was all they needed today was to deal with Clarkson up close…

"What about the driver?"

"Huh?" Chaya tensed.

"You know, the one that hit your mom – is he okay, or not okay, in trouble – what gives?"

"He was drunk," Chaya said quietly, unable to keep the cold bitterness out of her voice. "What he was doing drunk at nine in the morning is beyond me – but I hope they put him away for life."

Her friends seemed taken-aback with the venom that laced her voice. Ray even inched away from her momentarily, but this movement was covered up by Miyami hurriedly asking, "But doesn't that mean that you have a case against him? Can't you sue him or something? Doesn't your mom have insurance too?"

"Dad's taking care of it all," Chaya replied flatly. "He's busy talking to lawyers and stuff – if we do win the case the insurance will take care of the loan for our new house when the baby comes home. But nobody's going to be home for a while and my parents are a little edgy about that – they tried to convince Becky to come out for a week or so but she's _so_ busy over there she couldn't make it."

Again a dangerous cold permeated the blond girl's voice, making her friends shiver a little.

"That's not fair," Iris said. "She's your sister – she should be here for her own mother if she just went through an ordeal like that. I know if it was my mom I'd be over here in a heartbeat."

"I never said Becky was considerate," Chaya replied stonily, pressing her lips together when she caught the annoyed gaze of Clarkson up front, who was glaring at her to be quiet. When the woman had turned away to lecture about some other oddity, Chaya frowned and let her head fall into her arms.

Her friends were silent and she could sense them looking at each other over her head. She pushed her head to one side, squinting out of one eye at them but not really seeing anything. Her mind was still fixed on the dilemma her family was going through. She couldn't believe that her sister had "better things to do" than come in and see her mother and new baby sister. It just didn't make sense to her – and at this time in her life, she didn't even like Judy!

"Stop thinking about it," she heard Flash order gruffly, "or I'll hit you."

Chaya made a face and lifted her head, staring at the blond boy as though he was insane. "How's that supposed to help?"

"It won't," Flash shrugged, "but at least I stopped you thinking about it, if only for a moment."

Chaya cursed under her breath, not knowing how to counter that reasoning.

"Hey – so what'd you end up naming her? You know, the baby?" Ray asked, ducking his head behind a particularly tall sophomore to avoid being seen by Clarkson, whose gaze had once again been drawn towards the corner where Chaya and her friends were sitting.

"Mercedes," Chaya replied. "It's a Spanish name that means mercy."

Miyami and Johnny exchanged glances, and before Miyami could clamp a hand over Johnny's mouth, he blurted out, "You named your sister after a car?"

It was one of those moments where you suddenly say something extremely loud when every single other person in the room is quiet and the only sound it the blurted out is the sentence that draws everyone's attention. In this case, not only Clarkson was glaring at them, but the rest of the school was staring over with an array of looks. Chaya thought she saw her brother somewhere in the mess of people, hiding his head as though embarrassed to even be remotely connected to her.

'What else is new,' she thought with an inward groan.

"Chaya-Amelia," Clarkson boomed, making Chaya wonder why the hell she was being picked on when it had been Johnny that had burst out into his usual mode of noisiness. Then again, Clarkson had probably noticed for awhile now that the source of most of the disturbance originated from her corner. With resignation, knowing that everyone was looking at her anyhow, she stood up.

"Yes Ms. Clarkson?"

"Is there something you have to say to the rest of the school that happens to be more important than what I have to say?"

Despite the loud voice at the back of her mind that was telling her not to say anything and the strained looks that her friends were sending her, and the refusal to meet the eyes that her brother was treating her to – Chaya squared her shoulders, her flat, unimpressed voice ringing over the large room, "Actually, yes, there is."

There was a sharp intake of breath from the little groups of freshmen that were sprinkled throughout the room, although the rest of the students didn't seem as surprised about her words. They were used to Chaya's spontaneity, but none of them had ever heard her blatantly and intentionally answer Clarkson back. It was more often than not Clarkson that took her words for attitude even when they weren't.

The large woman's nostrils flared, "Don't think you're being smart with me, Chaya-Amelia."

"I'm not being smart with you, Ms. Clarkson, I'm only saying that 'yes', there is something much more important to me than your droning about possibly bringing in a uniform – you know, perhaps the health and wellness of my pre-mature baby sister that's the result of the accident you didn't want to tell my brother Max and me about until six hours after it happened?"

There was a heavy silence now, punctuated but Clarkson's jaw working furiously to answer Chaya's blatant disrespect for her.

She could feel the eyes of everyone in the study hall, but remained stoic as she matched Clarkson's glare. Something about the tension and stress since Mercedes' birth had erased whatever fear or apprehension she felt for Clarkson. This was not a wise happening, her rational side reminded her, almost frantic, but the other, practical side reminded her that getting on her vice-principal's nerves didn't really matter in the big picture of things. If anything, the woman would in all probability send her home early and call her parents. She couldn't be expelled for being concerned with her family.

"Miss Mizuhara," Clarkson said at last, her voice level. "I would like you to go see Mrs. Coolidge and when she is finished with you, wait in my office."

Without a word Chaya stood and plodded towards the Guidance office, mentally preparing for the onslaught of useless questions she would probably be asked by Mrs. Coolidge, and then by Ms. Clarkson later on. Still, nothing really seemed to bother her.

(-)

Clarkson all but threw her from her office after two hours of useless lecturing that Chaya wasn't even paying attention to. In fact it was by and large for this reason that Clarkson was so angry.

A Saturday morning detention and a seven-hundred-and-fifty word essay regarding why she should respect her elders also didn't seem like such a punishment. It was having to call her father and tell him what had happened that really wore Chaya down.

She knew that her father had been weary enough with Mercedes birth on his mind, as well as Judy's recovery and the lawsuit in the process. She and Max had decided almost at once after leaving the hospital the day before that they were going to do everything in their power to make things easier on their parents for the time being.

So far that had been a blow.

Chaya hated Clarkson more than any other person right now because of what she had made Chaya do to her father. But when her friends asked her if everything was alright during lunch she merely smiled grimly and put on the boastful, bad-ass routine that they were expecting.

She wanted all day to talk to Miyami alone, but her friend was nowhere to be seen, and when she was around, she was with the rest of Chaya's friends. And she would have felt horrible if she had to tell them all to leave just so that she could tell something completely secret to Miyami. Even though she was her best friend, Ray, Iris, Johnny and Flash were almost as close as well.

She felt a mounting feeling of _something_ all day, and it wouldn't go away.

The classes breezed by faster than she had thought they would when she and Max first arrived that morning. She had thought the day would just drag on the way time usually did when you wanted it to go by. But she felt as though she had blinked and everything was over all of a sudden.

She didn't expect to be pushed roughly from behind on her way to her locker, and she expected it even less that when she turned around it was Max that was glaring down at her furiously instead of one of her usual enemies.

"What the hell is your problem?" he demanded.

"Excuse me?" she asked, her eyes wide with confusion.

"You can never just shut up, can you?" he yelled furiously. "You can never just let anything go; you just have to drag it out until you've ruined everything!"

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Tyson in the background, looking as though he wanted to say something to keep Max back, but was afraid to approach his boyfriend. He wasn't alone. No one had ever seen Max raise his voice above the cheerful or encouraging yell. To have the male Mizuhara twin suddenly exploding in rage was uncommon and frightening.

But not to Chaya.

In retaliation for the earlier push, she pressed her palm hard against her brother's chest, bumping him into the locker. "What the hell is _your_ problem, Max," she retaliated, her eyes sparking with angry fire.

"You!" her twin snapped. "We had enough trouble and stress and then you had to be a show-offy, boastful moron and invite even more people into our life! As usual, Chaya, you can never just keep your mouth quiet for everyone's good."

Taken aback, Chaya put her hands on her hips, "What are you going on about Maxie? The fact that I don't know when to shut up or the fact that I stand up for myself and embarrass you and make you look bad? Because while both may be true, I don't think one's half as bad as the other."

"You make yourself look bad, and that reflects on our family – weren't you the one that said Dad needed a break? And then you go and pull shit like this –"

"Shit like _what_?" she hissed, narrowing her eyes into mere slits. "For your information, I didn't ask for the attention to be on me. I didn't ask for Clarkson to decide to ask a stupid question when right now, stupid questions really piss me off and obviously I'll give them a good answer. And I never asked your permission to stand up for my right to speak – women haven't had to ask men for the right to speak for the past eighty years, you numbskull."

"Stop pulling your historical, debating crap," Max ordered, his cheeks red with anger and eyes blazing a blue fire to match the blaze in her eyes. "I'm your brother; it doesn't work on me."

"And since when do I give a fucking damn," she shot back. "I'd say the real problem here is your self-image. For Christ's sake, Max, you're worried about your self image at school more than at home just because you can't admit to Mom and Dad that you're gay! Don't put it out on me!"

The silence in the hallway now was a heavier one than what had been in the study hall. Chaya immediately froze as she realized exactly what had come out of her mouth and she felt her hand clap over her lips so hard that she could feel her teeth behind her lips.

Max was tensed and looked as though he couldn't believe what she had just said. Behind him, Tyson and her recently clustered together group of her friends were staring at her as though she had just hacked off someone's head. All around her, the crowd that she hadn't noticed gathering around her and Max seemed to fill up every space where there was oxygen.

Sheer dread filled her. Her mouth burned as though she had just drunk acid.

Max's eyes were filled with hurt and betrayal, something that struck a harsh blow deep in Chaya's own heart.

He had never publicly admitted anything. Although their close friends knew about him and Tyson, they were careful about it in public. They didn't want any news getting back to their parents – or at least Max didn't. Even that time when Clarkson had caught them in one of the broom closet, the boys had convinced her that they had gotten locked in their while on an errand for Jackson. And now, Chaya had once again opened her big, stupid mouth and broken the promise she had made more than a year ago not to say anything.

"Max, I-I didn't mean – I'm so sorry, I – " her brother turned away from her and stalked down the hallway, still tense and looking as though he wanted to kill something. The crowd seemed to part and move away from him immediately, as though he carried some kind of disease. "Max!"

She took off after him, but was stopped by a gentle arm before her. Tyson looked at her grimly, and then shook his head. "I don't think now's a good time, even if you mean well."

She could sense the frosty glint in his eyes and pulled back. After a moment, Tyson turned and went after Max. Slowly she watched Ray, Iris and finally Flash follow Tyson and Max, and with each of them that did so she felt even more sick and full of self-loathing. She glanced at Miyami, not really knowing what to expect. The girl was her best friend – but she'd just done something horrible to her own brother.

Miyami stared at her for a moment as though she didn't know what to do, before shuffling off after Chaya's already departed friends, leaving her alone in the midst of what seemed to be the entire school. Although she felt like she had been left alone, she knew that she had deserved it. Deserved worse, really.

An empty, dream-like feeling took over, almost as though she had been set on autopilot. Narrowing her eyes and glaring around, she felt the "Autopilot" bark at the bystanders, demanding whether they thought her life was a free show. After a few cold words they began to disperse, disappearing on their own way home to wherever they were all going.

Numbly she went to her locker and took out her books and jacket, put everything on and headed out towards the bus-stop that would take her to the hospital. She didn't know what else to do.

Waiting for Max was out of the question. Waiting for her friends seemed even more unlikely. Doing anything other than running away from the problem just seemed stupid.

She bumped into someone roughly as she passed through the doors of the school, and it was only as she was getting on the bus that her memory decided to make clear to her that it had been Kai.

* * *

This is probably the only chapter that has a title to reflect the meaning of said chapter.

Note: Don't hate Chaya too much right now…she's sixteen, she's emotional – and she's obviously going to do a lot of stupid shit in the chapters to come. If any of you've read Harry Potter you remember how he went through that whole "Dark-Teen-Angst-Phase"…well here's Chaya's…it's worse.

Reviews are loved by la moi,

Kuriness


	30. Looking Glasses

**_Drowning in the Clouds_**

Author: KuriQuinn

Title: Burning in the Sea

Fandom: Bakuten Shoot Beyblade

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade, never will and have no intention of leading a crusade to try to own them. That's too much money and too much effort. However, I do like to manipulate the characters to do my bidding because it amuses me and countless others. This is the only disclaimer you will see in this fic, so if you decide to review me saying that I didn't give credit to the real person that came up with Beyblade (Aoki Takao) I will calmly tell you to go screw yourself. That is all.

Fanfiction Disclaimer: Chaya is my own creation, as is Haley, Jennifer, Claire and anyone else that you don't recognize. Miyami Kinomiya belongs to Mags, my best friend. Aurelia Delk belongs to Band-Freak a.k.a. Lobo-Chan. Flash Jameson and Iris Messana are inspired by my real life friends, Flash and Iz. Just to clarify that…

Rating: R for language, mature themes and mature humor

Pairing: Figure it out.

Takes-Place: Alternate Universe

Summary: When you live in small town, where everything and everyone is the same, what are you supposed to do? Why, wreak whatever hell you can, of course

**

* * *

Chapter Thirty: Looking Glasses **

The weekend following her colossal screw-up at school was the longest and most painful endeavor she had lived through since Mercy's birth. It was not only because of her fall-out with Max, but because her father's punishment for having fallen under Clarkson's scrutiny yet again had placed on her shoulders the burden of yet another problem. It would have been easier to bear his long-suffering glances and casual referring to wishing she would behave if Max would even look at her, but that, she knew, was wanting too much.

Not only was her twin refusing to look at her or speak to her, he seemed to have completely forgotten her existence. She knew better than anyone that she deserved this and even worse, but the fact that he wouldn't even listen to her apologies made her feel as though she was trying to climb a wall and he was kicking her hands away whenever she came close.

Their family had not yet found out about Max, owing to Clarkson not knowing the story, but it was just a matter of time. Gossip spread through school like a wild fire, and the parents of the students were bound to hear some version of the story. The fact that the parent-teacher interviews were coming up within the next month did not bode well.

Added to the fact that Becky kept calling home to talk to their mother, even though everyone kept telling her the phone number to Judy's hospital room, and hanging up after asking why they were complaining about her not calling when she wasn't even allowed to talk Judy, Chaya's stress-level was colossal and her weekend was far from the relaxing stint it should have been.

Not knowing what else to do, Chaya resolved after two days of the silent treatment that she would never act as she had done the week before ever again. She wouldn't shoot her mouth off, or be the brazen, loud know-it-all, wouldn't make trouble with Clarkson or do anything else that might get her brother or even her friends in trouble. If she could spend the rest of the term in silence and without trouble, maybe things would get better. Maybe she could somehow make everything up and not have to deal with people.

Monday brought forward even worse tidings than the weekend. Upon arriving an hour late for school because Max had 'accidentally' knocked the plug out of her alarm clock, Chaya learned that not only was she in the bad books of her own family, but her friends and rest of the school were sparing her no pity either. In homeroom, Johnny and Tyson pretended that she was an empty desk and her entire class treated her as though she had the plague.

Not even Miyami acknowledged her despite the two of them sitting together in history.

Her father knew that something was wrong between her and Max, that much was certain. He didn't ask what it was considering he believed in giving his children privacy, but Chaya could see the question in his eyes as the three of them sat down to the quietest dinner they had experienced in the history of their dinners. She knew that even if he had decided to ask she wouldn't be able to tell him. She had already screwed up her promise to Max enough.

Tuesday was no better and started off much worse.

After telling Becky for the seventh time that Judy was not leaving the hospital until that afternoon and that she should really just call the hospital room or better yet hop on a plane and come visit herself, and had she even asked about the baby yet, Chaya left the house, once again sans Max.

She didn't know when she decided to do it, or that she had consciously decided on anything. All she knew that suddenly, her resolution to turn over a new leaf seemed forgotten, and she was on her way, not to school, but towards the hospital, standing silently in the crowded bus with the mess of business people also going into the downtown area.

No one would really miss her at school except for Clarkson, she thought rationally, still reminding herself that it was her own fault. She wasn't going to even try to excuse herself for what she had done, it was that bad. She had a feeling each of her friends in turn wanted to punch her and then go around and do it again, which was nothing compared to what she felt like doing. It was a mixed blessing that she didn't know of any bridges in Bethany.

The hospital held the same sense of foreboding it had held the week before, but now that most of the danger was over it was more like a building again. Once she walked over the threshold of the hospital, Chaya felt the first sense of being relieved of a burden since the Friday before. It was almost as though here she was justified for something.

She didn't bother going to the information desk, able to remember her way around the hospital perfectly well since her last visit. She wasn't visiting anyone, really. Her mother was probably getting her things ready to leave and she knew that Judy would be less then pleased to find Chaya was here instead of at school. The elevator up to the premature infantile care unit was empty save for a janitor, who lugged a rolling garbage can out of the lift two floors above the floor she got out at.

There weren't many people in the pre and post-natal care wings, and no one noticed her ghosting down the corridors towards the windows that showed the special care nursery where the premature infants were being cared for. Standing where she had not even a week before, she watched the caregivers carefully feed those infants that were strong enough by now to be fed by the bottle, while others were carefully cleaning and keeping after the other tiny infants.

It took her a few minutes to recognize baby Mercedes in the sea of preemies. Unlike the week before when the infant had been laid on a special open warmer bed, this week she lay in an isollette. Chaya remembered her mother having said something over the phone about this meaning that the baby's breathing rate was steady. The monitors from the week before were also all there, keeping all of the care providers up to date with her vitals.

A neonatologist stood near Mercy's isolette, directing the overall care of the babies in her corner. A few nurse practitioners and physician assistants scurried around, helping to oversee her progress.

For a long moment, everything, every problem and tension outside of the little care area disappeared and Chaya smiled, watching her baby sister with a strong feeling that was so happy it was almost painful. She kept looking over the tiny body, marveling at the perfection of her sister's fingers and toes, and her lean little body. The tiny mouth and nose seemed to have been sculpted to perfection in their daintiness, and –

"Excuse me, may I help you?"

Chaya jumped, looking around, her eyes fastening on one of the nurses that had just rounded the corner. The older woman was looking down at Chaya curiously, and looked as though she was about to reprimand her for being on this floor.

"No, it's okay; I have to go anyhow," she mumbled turning to leave. "Just…that one's my sister and I wanted to…make sure she was alright."

The nurse watched her suspiciously for a moment, before asking guardedly, "Would you like to come in and see her?"

"W-what?" Chaya blinked. "But isn't that a-against the rules or something?"

"No, of course not," the woman replied with a kind smile. "In fact, the SCN staff usually welcomes families to visit their babies – it's very important for the baby's growth and recovery. None of the babies in there are ready to be held yet, but you can visit."

Without a word, Chaya nodded.

The nurse led her inside the windowed room, where even the very air seemed to be sterilized and clean. A few caregivers looked up with interest as Chaya walked in with the nurse, who asked her which baby was her sister, but other than that she didn't receive much attention.

Up close, Mercedes seemed even more tiny and fragile than she had seemed from behind the glass. Her skin was still rosy and wrinkled, her little fingers and limbs so impossibly tiny that Chaya didn't know how such a little being could be a person. Her chest was gently rising and falling in sleep, one of her fists curled into a tiny, balled fist. Even with the IV lines and medical apparatus, Chaya was breathless at the wonder she was staring down at.

"Is she…is she doing okay?"

"Today's a good day for her, yes," said one of the nurses that seemed to be assigned to Mercy's isolette. "She had a rough patch yesterday, but she's alright. You never know with preemies, though. One day's good, one day…well, it's not so good."

Chaya looked from the woman's face, back down to her sister's. "Can I…can I touch her?"

The nurse regarded Chaya carefully, and then nodded. "Very gently – she can't be held yet, but even babies as young as these have reflexes. Just like a normal baby she'll grab your finger."

Chaya took in this information and while watching for allowance from the nurse, she slowly and carefully, as though afraid to hurt her sister, felt the tips of her fingers ghost over her sister's forearm. She thought she heard a tiny, weak noise from her sister but couldn't be sure.

Mercedes skin was soft and felt so thin that Chaya thought even her minimal touch might bruise it. For a moment all she could do was stroke the skin of the infant's arm, before her forefinger slipped into the curl of her sister's fist. The tiniest feeling of pressure was applied to the tip of her finger and she felt for a moment like she wanted to cry.

'I swear to whatever higher power that exists wherever,' she thought furiously. 'I'll never screw up your life the way I did Maxie's…and if anyone ever gives you a problem I'll beat the shit out of them!'

(-)

"And why are you late?" the wrinkled, gray haired secretary asked, her voice sounding like nails on a grinding stone as it echoed across the room. Chaya watched for any indication that Clarkson was about to come out of her office and demand to know her reasons as well, but when there was none.

Rolling her eyes, she shrugged and mumbled something about late busses.

"Do you have a note from your parents?"

"Uh, no."

"I'm afraid I'll have to call them."

"Okay, sure," Chaya mumbled, about to ask the woman not to do it now because of how stressed out her dad was, before deciding against it. The secretary never listened to her requests before this, why would she start now. Her stomach grumbled. "You do that – I'm going to lunch if that's okay with you."

She didn't wait to find out if it was; instead she decided to just go ahead and march past the faculty offices, skip the trip to her locker and walk into the cafeteria. As had happened the day before, the room seemed to lull quietly for a moment when she walked in, before returning to the normal buzz.

It didn't take Chaya long to make out her friends sitting at their usual, assigned table, nor did it take her long to realize that yet again they all had their backs turned to her and even the ones facing her refused to look her way. For a moment Chaya wasn't sure what to do, all of her hunger leaving her almost like when air was let out of a balloon. What was the point of being in here if her friends didn't want to look at her any more than her brother did?

The natural reaction to this was to find somewhere else to sit. The day before she had eaten at her locker, dodging teachers as they walked down the hallways to their lunch or offices. Today she didn't have the will to do that. Feeling as though she had a huge weight bearing down on her shoulders, she trudged across the cafeteria, singling out the familiar form of Taryn Hiwatari.

Taryn sat, as usual, with her metal-head friends, all of whom looked up at Chaya for a fleeting moment, before looking away. Not fast enough, she thought, recognizing the aversion in the glances. So, it really wasn't just her friends and brother that hated her for what she had done.

Fair enough.

"Can I sit here, or do you hate me too?" she asked loudly, directing her question at Taryn instead of the metal-heads, knowing full-well what their answer would have been.

Taryn craned her head around to get a good look at Chaya, before shrugging and going back to her meal. "I don't care; it's a free country, isn't it? You don't have to ask permission."

"After what I did, yeah, I do," Chaya sighed, sitting down as far away from everyone as she could. Her ease at mingling with people seemed to have disappeared instantly.

"Well, I wasn't there so I can't really judge," the Goth murmured, taking a bite of a dill-pickle. "Although, from what I've been hearing, you're a huge asshole. But everyone's on Max's side, so that's natural."

"Of course everyone's on Max's side," Chaya murmured, head in her hands. "Hell, I'm on Max's side. What you people don't seem to get is the fact that I know better than anyone how crummy what I did was. And that I know I deserve everything I'm getting right now."

"Well then how come you sound like you're complaining?" Taryn asked evenly. "If you thought you deserved it, wouldn't you be shutting up now and taking it?"

"I'm not complaining about it, I'm just…trying to apologize but no one wants to hear it and that's making me…I don't know, feel like the injured party even though I'm not?" Chaya seethed furiously, delving into her own thoughts more than into what she and Taryn were talking about. "I feel like if Max won't listen to me tell him I'm sorry he'll never know and this whole thing will just blow up even more – and that things will never be the same and I couldn't stand that!"

Taryn sent her a bored look. "I appreciate you spilling your guts over here, but I'm not your damned shrink, Chaya, and I'm not a replacement for Max, Miyami or any of your other usual ranting friends. You got yourself into this mess; get yourself the hell out of it."

"By doing what?" Chaya ground out. "You know, other than trying to prostrate myself on the ground before all of them the past few days?"

"Don't look at me, I've never fucked up this bad," Taryn shrugged, getting up. Her metal head friends hurried to do the same. "I'll see you later – when you're not in such a rut."

"Big help you are," Chaya grumbled to herself.

Taryn didn't reply and Chaya looked up to realize that she was alone, having been bailed on so quickly she hadn't even noticed. The feeling in the pit of her stomach worsened and she let her head fall on the table, her gaze inadvertently falling in the direction where her friends were sitting.

Although they still had their usual carefree semblance she could detect how down-played everyone seemed. Tension seemed to be the rule amongst them lately. Max was in the middle of them all, silently eating the toxic cafeteria food. She realized that her friends were acting as a buffer between him and the rest of the school. She hadn't noticed before, but people seemed to be glancing at him more than usual.

"My fault," she kept reminding herself. But the fact that she was noticing it bugged her. She tried to imagine how Max was feeling right now, besides angry with her. Betrayed, left, exposed – even some of the guys he had been friends with for the past year or so were keeping their distance. All because of her big mouth.

The loud, brazen and showy Chaya would probably have stood up on the table and announced to the entire school how sorry she was and that if they gave her family any trouble she'd make them pay. But she remembered just in time that she had promised herself to just be quiet.

So she simply sat at the table, all alone, thinking about what might happen if she were still "brazen Chaya".

She let her head fall into her hands, attempting to suffocate herself while she stared into the darkness, her eyes two inches from the table that she couldn't see. After a while she sensed someone sit down heavily where Taryn had just been sitting. She didn't bother looking up, knowing she would just be at the other end of a hateful, spiteful and condescending glare.

"I guess the polite thing to do is cough and let you know that I'm sitting here – but that always seems so forced, doesn't it?"

She groaned inwardly, a let out a muffled, "Go to hell, Ivanov."

"Hm, not before I watch you writhe in self-pity for a little longer, it's entertaining," his voice was taunting. She knew that he was enjoying himself much more than he should be. "Especially considering the fact that you don't deserve it."

She looked up finally, matching brown eyes with icy blue ones. "Don't you have some poor defenseless puppy to kick or something?

"Yeah, well, you fit that description exceptionally well at the moment," the redhead drawled, looking her over, the intent to hurt her in any way that he could obvious on his face. For once, she was void of anything to say and wondered if he might leave her alone if she put her head back in her hands and pretended that he wasn't there. Seconds after having this particular thought she had the mental image of him stabbing her head with a blunt cafeteria fork or something. "I'm so glad that you're finally experiencing being taken down a peg, Mizuhara, it's high time. And this time no one's going to pull you out of the slump."

"What are you talking about, Ivanov?" she asked wearily, putting her head in her hands and squinting at him as though listening to him was a chore; which it was in a way.

"Come on, blondie, don't tell me you don't remember last summer around Kon's birthday – who helped you out of that?" he prodded.

Chaya felt angry and insulted, not only at the sudden realization that Ivanov actually knew about that time that Kai had gotten her ass out of a rut, but also because of the way he had said the word 'blondie'; dripping with distain, mocking and more an insult than anything else. Even when Kai had said it, meaning to be insulting, it had never sounded as mean as it did coming from Tala Ivanov.

"I want you to leave me alone," she said simply, eyes not leaving his face. She wanted her tone to convey as much danger and warning as she could, even though she had no idea what she was going to do if he didn't catch it. Unfortunately for her, he called her bluff.

"Or what? You'll yell out some randomly embarrassing secret that I might have?" he smirked. "Go ahead. You've got nothing on me, Mizuhara – but you'd be surprised how much I know about you."

Chaya tensed, wanting to look away. But where was she supposed to look, anyhow?

"What, no smart-ass response? No tough-love answer? I'm disappointed, Mizuhara – "

"If anyone's earned the right to be a disappointed asshole it's me, Tala, not you," a voice said quietly. Both Chaya and Ivanov looked up simultaneously, both surprised to see Kai leaning over the two of them with an unreadable expression on his face. Chaya nearly balked at the look that was in the crimson-eyed teenager's eyes. For the first time, he wasn't glaring at her with that look.

Tala's poker-face seemed frozen for a moment, as though he was surprised that Kai was calling him on something. Chaya thought she saw a look of disloyalty flicker in his expression, before he smirked again.

"Go away, Tala," Kai ordered.

Ivanov sent him a challenging look, which Kai returned just as strong. Chaya thought for a moment that they might get into a fight or something as equally unbelievable. After a moment, Tala merely stood up, sent both of them a moody glare, and lumbered off.

Chaya didn't know what to say, looking up at Kai hopefully.

He barely glanced at her before walking off after Tala and she looked down at her lap. So she was back on Kai's shit-list as well it seemed.

"Chaya Mizuhara!" she looked up to see Clarkson bursting into the room, looking as though she was livid. It seemed that she had heard about Chaya's recent indiscretions. Silent as usual, Chaya sighed and stood, trekking back into the depths of Clarkson's office, mentally counting down until yet another phone call to her parents.

* * *

Short, not so sweet and to the point. Chaya's an idiot and predictably ends up in Clarkson's office. I'd agree with you if you said this happens too often...except for the fact that my entire elementary and secondary school experience took place in either the principal/vice principal/secretary's office...and let me tell you, when you have a German, conservative, middle-aged woman who hates your guts bearing down on you when you're seven years old - you're pretty much jinxed for life... 

Enjoy,

Kuri


	31. Kitto Okay

**_Burning in theSea_**

Author: KuriQuinn

Title: Burning in the Sea

Fandom: Bakuten Shoot Beyblade

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade, never will and have no intention of leading a crusade to try to own them. That's too much money and too much effort. However, I do like to manipulate the characters to do my bidding because it amuses me and countless others. This is the only disclaimer you will see in this fic, so if you decide to review me saying that I didn't give credit to the real person that came up with Beyblade (Aoki Takao) I will calmly tell you to go screw yourself. That is all.

Fanfiction Disclaimer: Chaya is my own creation, as is Haley, Jennifer, Claire and anyone else that you don't recognize. Miyami Kinomiya belongs to Mags, my best friend. Aurelia Delk belongs to Band-Freak a.k.a. Lobo-Chan. Flash Jameson and Iris Messana are inspired by my real life friends, Flash and Iz. Just to clarify that…

Rating: R for language, mature themes and mature humor

Pairing: Figure it out.

Takes-Place: Alternate Universe

Summary: When you live in small town, where everything and everyone is the same, what are you supposed to do? Why, wreak whatever hell you can, of course

Note: Muchos gracias a mi amiga Flash - dude, thanks for putting up with my fics, the bad grammer/spelling and the horrible timing I tend to have...

**Chapter Thirty-One: Kitto Okay **

"We understand that you're worried, Chaya, but you can't let it take over your life," her father told her gravely for the tenth time since the meeting with Clarkson three days earlier. "I don't know what's happened to you lately. You know what a hard time your mother and I are having – I shouldn't have to remind you not to be so selfish."

Chaya didn't reply, staring angrily at the blank television screen in the living room. In the porch she could hear the almost mocking sounds of her family leaving the house. They were going to the hospital to visit Mercy – and in punishment for having skipped school three mornings ago to visit her, Chaya was not allowed to come with them despite the fact that today was a pedagogical day. She was not only prohibited from this, but grounded indefinitely from every form of fun and entertainment that her parents could think of.

Her friends were not allowed over, not that it would matter if they wanted to, her curfew had been extended to the minute school ended and her father had made it a business of his to confiscate her bus-pass every time she came home from school.

She was feeling especially frustrated today since Judy had rather unceremoniously told her that Mercy had had a bad recovery day – she was having a tube placed in her chest to help her premature lungs which seemed to have a hole in them. Chaya was sure that Judy's curt words were merely because her mother was worried and because Becky had spurned yet another request to visit, but it didn't make her feel any less badly about what was going on.

"Chaya, are you listening to me?"

She looked up at last, acknowledged him for the first time with a curt nod, and then looked back at the blank television. Her father sighed, shook his head and headed out towards the garage. "We'll be home later tonight – remember, no television, no internet, no music – and we can easily find out if you're on any of those things, but I'd like it if I could just trust you to keep to your punishment. There's food in the fridge, call if you need anything…" Her father looked up at her again. "And Chaya, please, just…try to get over whatever's eating you, okay?"

Chaya frowned more deeply, ignoring his words. She looked past him, noticing Max's almost angered glance and looked away again, shivering. She felt sick again.

She didn't look up again until after she heard the door slam behind her family.

"Fucking hell," she moaned, throwing her head back.

She sat there still and alone for about half-an-hour before it happened. The doorbell rang, echoing throughout the house.

Chaya stared at the door, sensing the shadowed figure behind it. She didn't move, instead just glaring over at the door, hoping whoever it was would go away. There was no such luck as whoever it was danced around on the spot for a moment, before ringing the doorbell. Chaya yawned, closing her eyes.

She'd rather just sit there and wallow in bitterness and anger, something she was good at according to her friends and family, but the strange caller didn't seem to care what Chaya had decided for the day. The doorbell rang at full volume twice, thrice and continually, making Chaya entertain the thought of going to open the door, until she heard the loud, annoyed muffled voice yelling, "Chaya if you don't open the damn door I'll just come in with the spare key."

Chaya felt a note of surprise enter her entire being at the sound of her best friend's voice, having not heard it directed at her in such a lengthy order in such a long while. A part of her wanted to jump up, run to the door to open it and just cry, but the other part immediately shot down that idea. She decided to just wait in the chair in front of the television; sure enough the porch door swung open, revealing the spry form of her best friend, nearly toppling under the weight of a huge knapsack.

"What are you doing here? I'm grounded, remember?"

"Yeah, reasons why I waited until after your family left – by the way, you didn't tell me the Volvo was the one your mom was in the accident with. That thing looks like crap. Why are they still driving it around?"

"Warranty or insurance or something I guess…"

There was a silence filled with Miyami's panting as she tried to kick off her shoes all the while keeping the large knapsack on her back.

"What, you're not even going to get up and help me out?" the silver-eyed girl demanded, looking at Chaya reproachful like.

The blond shrugged, not getting up. "Aren't you supposed to be too busy hating me to need my help?"

"Shut up," Miyami rolled her eyes, lugging the bag over to Chaya and dropping it in front of her. "This is a week's worth of homework that I noticed you haven't bothered bringing home or even bothering to ask me for. And considering everyone else hates you, I figured I'd take pity on you for a little."

"Yeah, thanks, that's nice of you," Chaya drawled, staring up at the ceiling.

The phone began to ring.

"Goddamn it," Chaya snarled. "I just can't get a moment of quiet today, can I?"

"Nope," Miyami replied, a semblance of her old cheerful tone back. Chaya looked up for a short time to meet her best friend's gaze, before she looked back down. The phone continued to ring.

"You drew the short straw, didn't you?" she deadpanned at last.

"I'm insulted," Miyami snapped. "The fact that you think I'm so low as to not at least check in on my best friend when she's colossally screwed up her life and maybe her brother's, her brother's boyfriend's who happens to be my cousin's and by association almost all of our friends lives?" Chaya sent her a look. "It was more like rock-paper-scissors."

"Right," Chaya nodded, a sardonic look on her face. "Okay, well you've dropped off what you wanted to and made me feel like a bigger piece of crap – thanks, I deserved it; you can leave now."

The shrill scream of the phone was cut off by Miyami's snappish retort. "You need to take a chill pill, Chaya. Okay, so you made a huge mistake and blurted out a secret you promised not to say anything about to half of the school – yeah, everyone currently hates you – but it'll blow over sooner or later. Remember what I told you about high school? It doesn't matter –"

The answering machine blared over the speaker phone. _"You've reached Takato and Judy –" _

_"– And Max and Chaya –!" _

"– it matters to me, okay? And sulking makes me feel better, so there," Chaya stuck out her tongue. "You're childish all the time, so it's my turn."

_"– Mizuhara. We're not in right now but if you leave your name, your number – _

_"– your license and registration please - !" _

"That's no excuse," Miyami rolled her eyes, sliding onto the coffee table and cocking her head to one side. "Listen, I want to know what's up with you. Where the hell did the brazen, attitudy and fun Chaya go? You know; the one who did stupid stuff without trying because she in fact had a good intention in the back of her mind but always ends up screwing it up somehow? Get rid of this bratty, sulking bitch, Chaya and try to fix things up."

_"– that's so lame, Chays –" _

_"– says you, Maxie - !" _

_"– could you two please be quiet? I'm trying to record a message here." _

"Why bother? None of it matters if Max won't even talk to me," Chaya grumbled. "Add that to the fact that my dad is probably regretting having ever had me because I cause so much trouble and that my mom thinks that I'm not even worth a shade of Becky so she shouldn't bother acknowledging the fact that I'm here and I want to help with Mercy and that Becky doesn't – everything's just really stressful now, you know?

_"We love you Dad!" _

_"…just leave the message and we'll get back to you –" _

_"If we feel like it!" _

_BEEP! _

"Babes, I know things are crap right now, but they always get better. It's like some unwritten rule somewhere, okay? If you make the biggest mistake in the world, something good will always come from it. Right?"

"Yeah, if you're an optimist, then everything is all sunshine and fucking rainb–"

_"Hey Mom and Dad – it's me, Rebecca. Look, Mom, I'm _sorry_ that I can't make it out there right now; everything's stressful out here, what with the house renovations and life in the fast-track. Antonio and I are also expecting, you know, I can't just up and leave everything like I used to, so stop asking me to, alright? Keep me posted on the baby and everything and when I can get some time off I'll come out – I'm on mat-leave in a month or two, depending on my state of health and I'll come in then, okay? Love you all, bye!" _

Chaya stared at the answering machine as it clicked off with a loud buzz. Nothing in the room existed except for her and the answering machine for a moment as her mind raced over Becky's cheerful message of poison.

"…seriously, Chaya, stop being such a damned pessimist," Miyami was babbling. Chaya didn't pay attention to her; she was still focused on the machine. "You need to go out or stay in and take a load off – do something outrageous to shake up this damn monotony and – "

"Her name is Mercedes," Chaya said quietly.

"Huh?" Miyami blinked at Chaya in confusion and it took her a moment to realize it was the machine that Chaya seemed to be talking to and not her.

"Not "the baby"," Chaya mumbled, feeling heat rising up in her cheeks. For once it wasn't from embarrassment or exuberance, but pure, unadulterated anger. "And Judy wants this bitch so badly to come in to see Mercy and she can't accept that I want to be here for her!" She was standing now and angrily slammed her fist down on the button to delete the message, hoping that she had broken the cheap piece of wire and plastic. "And she's going to put everything out on me just because her other daughter won't come out here! How is that fair!"

"Well I guess it's not," Miyami said cautiously, sending Chaya worried glances. "Chaya, are you alright?"

"Do I look alright?" Chaya snarled, jumping to her feet. "How should I be alright when my parents try to keep me away from my baby sister just because I haven't been the poster-girl for goodness lately?"

She didn't wait for Miyami's answer as she all of a sudden tore through the house, her mind working a mile a minute, filled with disjointed, half-angry thoughts directed at whoever she knew.

"Transportation," she mumbled distractedly to herself, practically launching herself at the chest of drawers in the hallway, yanking open a drawer and rummaging through it.

"Chaya, what are you doing?"

"Going to see my sister," Chaya said angrily. "…god damn rights…unfair treatment – stupid favoritism, this is what this is…"

"Dude, you're not making any sense."

For the first time in all of the time that Chaya had known her, Miyami looked anxious and worried. Perhaps about her reason or lack thereof. And for the first time, it just didn't matter what Miyami thought. Right how her family was a little more important than self-image. Maybe that's what Miyami had been talking about?

She pulled her coat off of the nearby hook and pulled it on, jamming whatever she could find into her pockets, including loose the car keys to the Passat. Everything was going by in a haze – she noticed Judy's purse close at hand and wondered why her mother didn't have it – then stopped worrying about it. Without a second thought she picked up the large, lime-green purse and rummaged around in it.

Some presiding deity had decided to be generous. Her driver's license was still there.

"Chaya, what the hell are you doing?"

"My parents have my bus-pass," Chaya said simply, pulling on a pair of boots and digging around for a hat and gloves. She barely noticed Miyami stumbling over the coffee table to follow her. "And it will take too long to walk there."

"As great as your sisterly love is, Chays, I thought you're punished – and getting in even more trouble isn't the smartest thing to do," the silver-eyed girl reminded her, even as she was pulling on her own boots and coat. "What are you going to do, drive?"

"Yes."

"But you can't!" Miyami hissed as Chaya opened the door to the garage and flicked on the lights, illuminating the small Passat that was sitting in the garage. She marched forward and stuffed the purse into the back seat of the car and then started to get into the drivers seat. "You don't have a license! Or a drivers permit."

"I've been driving since I was twelve, remember?" Chaya asked dryly. She put the key in the ignition and turned it slightly to put the power on, having to adjust the seat and mirrors to her preferences. "Besides, my mom and I look identical in pictures."

Miyami still stood in the doorway, looking torn between two choices and her better judgment. For a moment the mad rage that had possessed Chaya since the answering machine message ebbed away and a little doubt crept up on her – but then the memory of the message made her irate again and she sighed loudly.

"Look, Yami," Chaya sighed, her voice still hard. "I'm going – and you can either come with or not, it's your choice. I know you hate me along with everyone else right now but if I have to get over having screwed everyone else's life up, you need to cut me some slack and give me some leeway." She paused to reach up and open the garage door. "Either way can you lock up the house."

Miyami paused for a moment, and then sighed.

"Who am I to let you get arrested for joy-riding all alone," she grumbled, reaching into the house and locking the door, and then closing the door between the garage and the rest of the house. She slipped into the passenger seat and then pulled her seatbelt on. "But if you so much as run over a leaf I'm jumping out of the car."

Chaya didn't respond to the joke. Once the door was open she shifted into reverse and backed out of the driveway.

"What exactly are you going to tell you parents, anyway?" Miyami asked as they turned onto North Beaver Avenue. Chaya could sense that her friend was nervous, especially by the fact that she kept looking around like she was waiting to be caught.

"Never mind, I'll think about that later," Chaya mumbled, squinting into rearview mirror. "Calm down or we will be caught by the cops before we even get onto a highway."

"Yeah, yeah," Miyami groaned, smacking her head painfully back onto the headrest. "You owe me."

"Why? I didn't force you to come."

Miyami looked at her shrewdly. "You're a bitch when you're pissed off, you know that?"

"So I've been told."

The two of them lapsed into silence. Miyami seemed to slowly calm down after watching Chaya's driving for a while, and simply leaned against the window. Chaya felt a rage tingling through her blood, a hyper, light feeling flooding her heart. She was excited and the thrill of doing something like what she was doing…she shivered.

She'd never done something like this before, she thought breathlessly as they turned off of Highway sixty-six, merging onto the parkway and Highway seventy-four.

"Do you have change on you?"

"Why?" Miyami asked, her voice sharp, even though she was still lazily leaning against the window.

"Because mine and my mom's wallet is in the purse in back and I can't reach it, that's why," Chaya replied in a snarky tone.

Miyami made a face. "Fine, fine…what do you need it for?"

"Portions toll," Chaya said casually, just as they turned onto the exit of the Kilpatrick Turnpike.

"Portions wha – whoa, _what_!" Miyami's voice was shrill. Her head whipped around suddenly, staring as far back as she could through the back window as they drove. She seemed to be trying to see a sign that might show where they were going. "Chaya, _what the hell_!"

"It's okay, you don't have to get out your change until the end of the turnpike," Chaya said quietly, slowly easing her foot on the gas.

"Chaya, you said you were going to see your sister!" Miyami yelled, whirling around so that she was staring wildly at Chaya, who barely glanced at her to indicate that she had heard her. "Why the hell are we heading towards the turnpike, you liar!"

"You know how you were saying I needed to do something outrageous?" she asked her friend in a controlled and hopefully voice. Miyami was still staring at her as though she had lost her mind and was trying to make Miyami lose hers as well. "I didn't lie – we are going to see my sister." She paused for a moment as though to give Miyami time to adjust to what she was going to say. "You never asked which sister."

And so ends the first installment of what should be a nice little segment…will she get in trouble? Will she make it? What's gonna happen?

Guess you'll all have to read on, so nyah!

R&R please,

Kuriness


	32. Rent Free

**_Burning in the Sea_**

Author: KuriQuinn

Title: Burning in the Sea

Fandom: Bakuten Shoot Beyblade

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade, never will and have no intention of leading a crusade to try to own them. That's too much money and too much effort. However, I do like to manipulate the characters to do my bidding because it amuses me and countless others. This is the only disclaimer you will see in this fic, so if you decide to review me saying that I didn't give credit to the real person that came up with Beyblade (Aoki Takao) I will calmly tell you to go screw yourself. That is all.

Fanfiction Disclaimer: Chaya is my own creation, as is Haley, Jennifer, Claire and anyone else that you don't recognize. Miyami Kinomiya belongs to Mags, my best friend. Aurelia Delk belongs to Band-Freak aka Lobo-Chan. Flash Jameson and Iris Messana are inspired by my real life friends, Flash and Iz. Just to clarify that…

Rating: R for language, mature themes and mature humor

Pairing: Figure it out.

Takes-Place: Alternate Universe

Summary: When you live in small town, where everything and everyone is the same, what are you supposed to do? Why, wreak whatever hell you can, of course

**

* * *

Chapter Thirty-Two: Rent Free**

For a drive that would take almost twenty-eight hours, everything seemed to pass very quickly. Chaya attributed it to her feelings of nervous excitement and dread when it finally began to sink in what she had done. The creeping feeling in her stomach hadn't really started until an hour after they had been on the road. They had just merged onto the Interstate and were on their way to some place called Hays when Chaya suddenly felt like there was a mixture of stones and butterflies filling her stomach.

The feeling became so pronounced that she was forced to pull over at the side of the road once so that she could throw up. In between her freaking out that seeing Chaya on the side of the road might get them caught, Miyami was less than helpful or sympathetic.

"It's your own fault," she had said testily when Chaya got back into the car, looking much paler than before. "Not only for stealing the car or driving without a license but for making me the responsible one here. It's called Karma."

Chaya had to ignore her for fear that if she opened her mouth she would throw up again.

Thoughts flew helter-skelter through her brain, almost impairing her driving as she sped up. The still rational part of her had begged her to turn back and return home. In fact if she went now she could probably return everything before her family returned from the trip to the hospital and not be grounded any further.

But every time she thought of this her memory had played over the phone message from Becky and her blood had broiled anew.

Surprisingly, the trip was silent. Chaya was sure Miyami was a mixture of still being angry with her and still being a little shocked that she had found herself suddenly hijacked and brought across the country by her less than sane best friend. All she did while Chaya drove was stare out the window and once in a while reach for the tuner of the radio to try to get rid of static or a particularly annoying song.

They passed through Denver and Salt Lake City without much fanfare, excepting a stop at a gas station and corner store for food. The sheer silence of their drive scared Chaya, not so much because of her friend, but because the phone in the car hadn't sounded once. She knew that it would be the first thing her parents would call when they realized that both she and the car were missing. Evidently, her family was not yet home from the hospital.

The drive allowed Chaya some thinking time, although not much. Her nerves snapped her out of her daydreams before they even began in most cases, but not before she had gone over the events of the week before at least a dozen times each, reexamining every detail she could bring up and wondering how she could have avoided the entire thing. Every way she looked at it, she had screwed herself over.

After entering the state Nevada they stopped at a fast food joint for supper, which didn't amount to much because Miyami couldn't stand fast food and Chaya felt too sick to be hungry. Miyami used the phone outside to call her parents and tell them that she was at Chaya's house and would be staying there for the rest of the weekend. From what Chaya could hear on the phone, her parents seemed glad that the girls had patched up whatever fight they had been in. When Miyami hung up though, the look in her eyes suggested that there was still a little more time needed before they could act close again.

They stopped driving at around eleven o'clock at a motel in Winnemucca, which Chaya paid for with her own wages from the Hobbyshop. Although she had taken her mothers credit card, she didn't want to have to use it until there was an emergency. Considering it had been her bright idea to hijack the car and go to Oregon, she figured that along with gas, she had to pay for their sleeping arrangements. And Miyami had flat-out refused to sleep in a car.

Their room was small and cramped, smelling of cigarette smoke and mildew. Chaya hoped that there weren't any cockroaches or mice but was beyond really being able to care. The double bed was decked out in a rusty brown cover that had coffee stains or something of the like on it. The girls wasted no time in pulling it off of the bed and tossing it in the shower.

As much in silence as they had passed the day, they went to bed.

But Chaya couldn't sleep. Although she was exhausted and weak, a headache building from the day of focusing and driving, every time she closed her eyes they opened involuntarily. The room seemed too hot or too cold from one second to the next and the jittery feeling that had been following her since taking the care refused to leave.

She turned over, trying to get herself into a comfortable state of mind and at least try to doze. If she didn't get to sleep she wouldn't be able to drive safely the next day. She was already pushing the luck that her friends tended to accredit her with.

Crimson brown eyes flashed at her in her head and her eyes widened open again. Why in the seven hells was she thinking about him, of all people, at a time like this? Besides, the last time they had seen each other and actually exchanged intelligent conversation had been the week before. Not that long ago.

Although, she thought with a frown, shifting again and pulling the blankets with her, hadn't they technically been dating? No, it was like she had said, just some mutual attraction nothing beyond that. And he actually managed to keep up with her conversation-wise. But still…she felt a creeping, nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach that wouldn't go away, especially when she thought about Kai.

Their last meeting played over in her head and she cursed inwardly. Well, after the way he had treated her that day, letting her get into trouble with Clarkson and everything…

Then again, he had been defending her from Ivanov.

But he'd looked so angry with her!

Why was she painting herself as the victim here, it was her own fault that people were mad at her and it was what had landed her here in this stinking motel in the first place.

"Chaya, are you going to toss and turn all night or are you actually going to sleep?" Miyami grunted in the dark, nearly scaring the wits out of Chaya. Her voice sounded tired and a little annoyed. "Because the floor's not a problem."

"You'd never sleep on a floor."

"I was talking about you."

Chaya rolled her eyes and then turned over one last time to face her friend briefly. "Sorry, I thought you'd already dropped off."

"Two years of friendship with you has taught me than when we share the same room I don't sleep until after you've passed out," her best friend deadpanned, in turn shifting and fluffing up one of her pillows. "What's up – cold feet again?"

"No, I just – "

" – know you're going to get in serious trouble when all this is over?"

" – kinda miss Kai."

Silence.

And then,

"Whoa," Miyami breathed. "Those are the last words I ever pictured coming out of your mouth. Ever. In this life time…Except for something along the lines of "I'm having a sex change and going to Pluto"."

Chaya shifted uncomfortably, especially when she realized how true what she had just said was. She was still at a loss as to why, though. It wasn't as though they were close or they had some cookie-cutter perfect relationship. In fact she still did hate the arrogant jerk nine times out of ten. Of course it was the tenth that went and screwed everything up. That godforsaken tenth part kept reminding her of the fact that many times, despite their obvious and mounting dislike of each other, Kai had been the one to pull her out of whatever slump she had been in.

And he had once kissed her after she had thrown up, which although disgusting Chaya had to admit was kind of cute. She smiled unconsciously at the thought and then just as quickly shook her head as though to clear it. Now wasn't the time to contemplate a relationship with Kai, if they even still had one beyond seething hatred. She hadn't missed the way he had looked at her not four days earlier.

"So what's different from usual, Miss Stubborn?" Miyami yawned and Chaya could sense her shifting next to her and glancing over. Despite being unable to see her friend's face, she could just picture the inquisitive expression.

"Nothing," Chaya replied. The words sounded fake even to her and she groaned, at this realization. She knew Miyami wouldn't leave it alone if she didn't tell her what was really on her mind. With a sigh, she finally resigned herself to telling her friend the truth, or at least as much of the truth as she could think of, of what was bothering her. "He won't talk to me. Barely even looks at me."

"Thought that was what you wanted?"

"So did I," she shrugged. "Right up until about now, I think."

Miyami snorted. "So, should I call you a moron now or wait 'til tomorrow when I can actually see your face.

Chaya sat up in bed and glared in the direction where her friend's voice was. "You know, Miyami, believe it or not, my life is hard enough right now without you being a total bitch. I don't know what the fuck I ever did to you but I'm sorry."

"Hey, it's not like you're making it easy," Miyami shot back, also sitting up. "All you're doing is sitting there going, "poor me, poor me, life sucks'. It's been kind of hard getting close to you when you've been so into yourself. You think we're avoiding you? You've been avoiding everyone since last week. Almost like you've shut everything out so it can't get at you. I thought you didn't want to talk to me, not the other way around."

"Sorry," Chaya murmured. "But things have been… you know."

"Yeah, and I already told you – get over it and start acting like you again," Miyami exhaled loudly and paused before saying, "Alright, look, I don't blame you for retreating into yourself, but now it's time to come out of your shell. Max doesn't hate you – he's your twin, he'd be the last person ever to hate you – he's just feeling a little betrayed right now. Things are hard for him since people found out about him. You know how everyone at school is about gays – he nearly got beaten up on Tuesday by – "

"WHAT!" Chaya hissed. "Who the hell would even – I swear to – oh, someone's going to die for this – "

"Shut up," Miyami ordered again. "I'm not done talking – anyway, the point is you're not the only one that's having a rough time of it. And running off into another state is really not the answer."

"Is that what you think I'm doing?" Chaya gaped into the darkness. "Running away?"

"Well, you never really stopped to tell me what you were doing – I think you were too busy stealing your parents car," Miyami deadpanned. "Or being a selfish bitch, whichever you prefer to believe."

Chaya straightened up again, trying to find her friend's face in the dark so that she could stare right at her as she spoke. She wished the lamp wasn't on the other side of the room. "Yami, ever since Mercy was born my parents have been stressed out and miserable. They've been trying to get to the courts about the drunk driver, trying to get Becky to come in to town, trying to deal with Max and me not talking – Becky never called my mom once while she was at the hospital and then she refuses to come see her or anything after she gets out," Chaya explained in a low voice. "All I ever hear about is how much happier everyone would be if Becky showed up to see them or called or something – and then there was that message she left that shows how much she really couldn't care less about us if it's not convenient for her."

"I really can't stand my sister, alright? On the list of people I could live without, she's right up there with Clarkson and where Kai tends to be every other day. But to my parents Becky coming to visit is like…if Johnny Depp came to visit me, right? And if I can at least ease some of their stress a little, things might work out a little and then I can tackle to rest of my problems – so I'm going to bring Becky home, kicking and screaming if I have to, grounding and criminal records be damned."

She paused for a moment, letting her words sink into her friend's mind. A moment later she added, "And if you don't want anything to do with that, I'll call you a cab or give you money for a bus to get home, because this is important to me."

Miyami laughed and for once, it wasn't laced with bitterness. "You loser, do you really think I'm going to bail on you now? I couldn't care less what your reasons are; I came with you, didn't I? And for the record, can you really see me getting on one of those stinky busses with all those old travelers that might show me pictures of their obese grandchildren and tempt me with prune juice?"

Chaya was the one to laugh now.

"I didn't think so…"

Miyami reached over and pulled her into a reassuring hug and Chaya grinned, her chin jutting into her friend's shoulder. "Ack, Miyami, your bones are stabbing into me!"

"Ahh! Bones, ew-ew-ew!" Miyami pulled away, rocking back and forth and shaking out her shoulder and whining. There was a loud pounding on the wall from the room next door as though the residents were trying to get them to shut up. Miyami ignored them, continuing to complain about how she could feel her bones and how gross it was.

"Crap, this is turning into one of those bonding experiences, isn't it?" the blond asked after a moment. "With our luck we'll be reminiscing about it someday when we share a jail cell or something in our rickety old wheelchairs."

"Pah, says you," Miyami snorted. "What makes you think you're off the hook yet?" Chaya could sense her making a face at her through the dark, before she added, "Oh, and I'd never go for a wheelchair. I'd be one of those fit grannies with a walker – only lazy people need a wheel chair."

"Oh, right, because I couldn't possibly have arthritis or osteoporosis or a foot deformity and not be able to walk," Chaya deadpanned.

Miyami snorted, "While you're complaining there, why don't you add amputation and Parkinson's?"

"Well how about you add drooling and a speech impediment and the compulsion to scream at kids to get off your damn lawn?" Chaya shot back.

"Why are we talking about us becoming old again?"

"You're the one that decided to build on what I'd said; I'm merely an almost innocent bystander…"

There was more pounding on the door next door and without missing a beat, both girls chorused, "SHUT UP!" and then laughed out loud.

"Whatever, we really should be getting to sleep – we're up at five tomorrow," Chaya sighed, making a big show of rearranging her blankets and pillow to get comfortable. "Or else I really will run over that leaf you were so worried about this morning."

"Hey, don't bash the leaf – leaves have feelings too!"

"Go to sleep, 'Yami."

"After you, remember?"

"…spaz."

(-)

It was noon the next day and they were just leaving a gas station in Nevada when it happened. Privately, Chaya wondered why she didn't get the call sooner. She was sure the reason was that her parents had arrived home late and gone straight to bed, not bothering to check in on Chaya, who was supposed to be in bed. And they'd also probably woken up late, finally discovered the car was gone and her gone and put two and two together.

Still, when the phone rang just as they were getting onto Highway 140, both Miyami and Chaya screamed in surprised. It rang a full four times before Chaya finally hesitantly reached for the button activating the hands free and prepared herself for the worst. The only consolation that was keeping her from ignoring it was the fact that because she was about four states away from her parents and they couldn't really do anything to her at the moment.

"…hello?"

"CHAYA! Where are you, young lady? What do you think you're doing – you know that you're grounded and – and you took the car, you can't even drive yet! Where are you – ! Your mother and I are worried sick about you, how could you be so selfish to do something like this when you know that we're – "

"Hi daddy, I'm fine, how are you?" Chaya attempted, trying to think of a way to calm her father down. Miyami was sending her panicked glances which she returned, hoping that her friend would remain quiet. She knew her father was angry enough with her now, but the fact that she had gotten Miyami involved was even worse.

"I don't want to deal with any of your attitude right now, Chaya, now answer me, where are you? I'm worried enough as it is, but Miyami's parents have been calling all morning to speak to her and she's not here!"

'…So much for that plan,' Chaya sighed, throwing her head back into the headrest in frustration.

"I'm with her Mr. M, don't worry, we're fine," Miyami began, before she was cut off by frantic shouting.

"Miyami! Where ever you are, get my daughter to turn around and come home. Your parents are very worried about you and – "

Miyami mouthed a 'should I tell him or should you' to Chaya, who wordlessly replied, 'Neither!'

" – Chaya, I expected more from you. I would never have believed it possible of you, this level of irresponsibility – and theft, too! Your mother is going out of her mind over here because her credit cards and ID's are missing, how could you have – "

"Okay, Daddy, I love you, I'll call you if anything happens – "

" – Chaya-Amelia Rembrandt Mizuhara, don't you hang up that phone – "

" – Miyami and I will be back soon, in a few days or so – "

" – Chaya, don't, I still don't know where you are, you have to – "

" – I accept full responsibility over all of this, so don't worry," Chaya yelled above her father's voice. "Bye Daddy, love you – tell Mom and Max I love them too – "

" – Chaya – !"

She hung up the phone, her eyes on the road in front of her, and disconnected it with one hand. She and Miyami didn't speak for a long while, both waiting for the right moment. Chaya was breathing hard as though she had just run a marathon and the feeling that she was going to be in so much trouble when she got home was growing bigger by the second. What the hell had she been thinking?

"So…" Miyami finally shattered the silence. "Do you think he'll send the cops after you?"

Chaya's eyes roved away from the road for a moment so that she could glare out of the corner of her eyes t her friend. "Miyami! You're not helping!"

The silver haired girl just grinned, settling into her seat as she regarded Chaya with a playful and teasing look. "I'm just saying…I've never heard your father use your whole name. That's got to mean something bad, right?"

"Miyami, really, shut up."

She chuckled. "Why do I have a feeling that when you're not in everyone's bad books, the guys are going to love hearing about this?"

Chaya sneered, "Why do I have the feeling that you're going to be hitchhiking back to Bethany?"

Miyami made a face. "Touché." She actually shut up for a second before she was talking again and Chaya groaned, wondering if it hadn't been better when her friend wasn't talking to her. "But really. Your life is so totally weird sometimes – you should write a book about it."

"Yeah, that's a great idea – what a novel idea – pun intended."

"See? You come up with stupid puns – that's a sure sign that you can write a book," Miyami pointed out.

"So where do you get scientifically proven information from?"

"TV."

"Figured." Chaya snorted and focused back on the road. The road lay flat before them for the moment, but she could see an inclination up ahead. She had to be careful around here, she was sure. There were radar traps everywhere these days and she didn't want to get stuck in one or it was not only back to Bethany for her, but a little post it in her criminal record. She thought back to what Miyami had said moments ago and laughed out loud. "Well, if I ever did decide to write a book I'd have to change the names – maybe change some of the more outrageous stuff."

"Why's that?"

"This would definitely have to be fictionalized – who'd believe so much crap could happen to one person?"

"Chays, with you, I think anyone would believe it."

"Har-de-har-har – how about you shut up for the next five hours?"

* * *

WHoo! Alright, that one took a while. Not my best, but not my worst, sorry for the wait guys!

R & R please,

Kuriness


	33. Devil Dog

_**Burning in the Sea**_

Author: KuriQuinn

Title: Burning in the Sea

Fandom: Bakuten Shoot Beyblade

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade, never will and have no intention of leading a crusade to try to own them. That's too much money and too much effort. However, I do like to manipulate the characters to do my bidding because it amuses me and countless others. This is the only disclaimer you will see in this fic, so if you decide to review me saying that I didn't give credit to the real person that came up with Beyblade (Aoki Takao) I will calmly tell you to go screw yourself. That is all.

Fanfiction Disclaimer: Chaya is my own creation, as is Haley, Jennifer, Claire and anyone else that you don't recognize. Miyami Kinomiya belongs to Mags, my best friend. Aurelia Delk belongs to Band-Freak aka Lobo-Chan. Flash Jameson and Iris Messana are inspired by my real life friends, Flash and Iz. Just to clarify that…

Rating: R for language, mature themes and mature humor

Pairing: Figure it out.

Takes-Place: Alternate Universe

Summary: When you live in small town, where everything and everyone is the same, what are you supposed to do? Why, wreak whatever hell you can, of course

**

* * *

Chapter Thirty-Three: Devil Dog**

They arrived in Klamath Falls, Oregon, at five o'clock that afternoon and pulled into Becky and Antonio's driveway half an hour later. Chaya hadn't been there since the troublesome trip the summer before where she had spent two weeks listening to Antonio and Becky gushing about their new home and future together. Her family had been absolutely stupid over the entire fact and she had been bored out of her mind.

Becky's house was a quaint little home, complete with picket fence and lilac garden, which was currently out of commission thanks to the frigid January weather. The house looked like something out of a story book, with white panels and muslin curtains hanging in the window. What appeared to be a company car was sitting in the driveway and as they pulled up, Chaya could recognize the form of her brother-in-law shoveling off the walk.

She didn't waste time before she had parked the car and got out, not bothering to tell Miyami to wait inside. She had a feeling her friend would do as she wished and at the moment, arguing with her wasn't on her list of things to do. In fact, she needed to save up her energy to deal with her high-maintenance sister.

The cold air whipped at her face and she cursed herself for a moment for not having brought more than her winter coat along with her. The sun was just setting, leaving a low pink hue on the horizon and a settling darkness all around them. The snow was wet and sticky and Chaya could feel it seeping through her boots as she stalked towards Antonio meaningfully.

He blinked when he realized who it was and then, as though to make sure, asked, "Chaya? But what are you doing here?"

"Can it, Tony, I need to speak to Becky, where is she?" she snapped, earning a frown from her brother-in-law. She remembered that they had never gotten off to a good start and they probably never would. He ignored her question and look towards the car.

"Where are you parents? Who's that with you?"

"If you don't tell me where Becky is, I'll find her myself," Chaya told him pointedly, leaving her simple-minded brother-in-law staring at the car.

"Wait, aren't you a little young to be driving? And I still don't understand – "

She ignored him, plodding through the snow and up onto the porch. Now she knew why Becky had married this moron. – so that her intelligence would never be tested. How boring.

She tried the door knob and when that didn't work, raised her hand to the door bell, ready to ring it all day if she had to just to get her sister's attention. Luckily, someone upstairs seemed to like Chaya today. The door was wrenched open moments before her finger pushed the glowing orange button and she found herself staring up into the face of her older sister.

Almost eight months pregnant, Becky didn't look more than three, almost as though she hadn't been eaten excessively so as not to gain weight. Her cheeks were flushed from the heat inside the house and in her hands she was holding a folder with documents, her head tilted on her shoulder where she held a cordless phone. Her blue eyes widened when she realized just who was currently standing on her doorstep, looking at her angrily, and she dropped the documents.

"Florence, I have to call you back – no, it's not the baby, hon – yeah, love you too, bye!"

Becky flipped the phone closed and stared at Chaya, open-mouthed. Behind her, Chaya could sense Antonio walking up behind her, followed by Miyami. Chaya didn't bother beating around the bush. "Get in the car."

"What on earth are you doing here?" Becky demanded, adopting the irritated mother pose that she had learned from Judy so many years earlier. She looked past her and at the car, before something seemed to click in her mind. "Is that your car?"

"Is that your overbite?" Chaya shot back. "Plant your ass in the car, we're going home."

"I heard you'd run away but I never _dreamed_ you'd come here," Becky replied, looking her over. "Mother called earlier to tell me that you were being a delinquent again – skipping school, stealing property – why aren't you in juvy yet, Chaya?"

"Rebecca, shut that never closing trap of yours and get into the car," Chaya growled. "What I do has nothing to do with you, and never has. But apparently, what you do means everything to Mom and Dad because they can't shut up about it."

"Oh, honey, that's not true," Becky said, trying to pacify her. "You know your special to them too – is that what this little visit's for? To help your self-esteem?"

"What are you not understanding about 'get in the car'?" Chaya demanded, starting forward. Becky held up her hand to stop her.

"Don't, you'll upset the baby – "

"Oh, because your kid is so much more important than our sister?" Chaya snapped. "She's not even a week old and you've already started treating her with the same careless abandon you've always treated us with! The least you could do, not even for her, but for Mom and Dad, is to show up or call or something!"

"Sweetie, we've been over this," Becky said patiently, as though she was explaining something to an ignorant child. "I'm really at such a point in my life that I can't drop everything and come visit any more. I have a job, a mortgage, a child on the way and a family of my own – now let's go inside where it's warm and you can call Mom and Dad and tell them that you're alrigh – "

"I AM NOT ALRIGHT!" Chaya yelled, and a couple who were walking their dog on the other side of the street looked over in fascination at the scene that was playing out. Becky's eyes riveted around as though to see how many people were listening in and tried to usher Chaya inside the house. "And no, I won't shut up and be quiet and go in the house just because it might hurt your image!"

"Chaya get in the house. We don't need a scen – "

"No, you don't need a scene," she snarled, already wound up. She wasn't going to give Becky a chance this time. Every other time they were together, Becky always got her way and what she wanted – well not this time. "I need a scene or I'll never get my point across!" She breathed deeply and then said, "You are a spoiled rotten, self-centered, whiny, bratty, sad excuse for a human being."

"I think this is a case of the pot calling the kettle black," Becky replied crisply, folding her arms above her protruding stomach. "And you know what? I don't like it – I'd hate to have to kick my own sister out of my home, Chaya, but you're really testing my resolve. Antonio? What do you think?"

Her husband cleared his throat, "Well I think – "

"I don't give a flying fuck what you think, stay the hell out of my business," Chaya told him calmly before turning back to her sister. "Fight your own battles for once in your life."

"I'm the victim here, I need protection against – "

"Against who, your worthless younger sister? Your whole life you've been a victim," Chaya snapped. The cold was beginning to settle in her bones, but she ignored it. She needed to make her point clear to Becky, one way or another. "Stop using that as an excuse."

She heard Miyami get back into the car and turn it on, as though trying to warm up. That was fine with her; she didn't need Miyami at the moment.

"Our little sister _Mercedes_, in case you didn't bother to even ask her name, which I'm sure you didn't, is currently lying in an NICU back home, fighting for her life every single day before she was born premature – because of some asshole drunk driver who might even get off in the courts," Chaya yelled, taking in her sister's uncaring face and wanting nothing more than to smack it. "Everybody in our family has sat in that hospital with Mom at least once and that includes Omi Rosenberg and our annoying cousins who we never see. Everyone that is, except for you. And you're the one that matters most to Mom and Dad because you're their favourite and you're their golden child. And you know what – ?" Chaya trailed off, straightening herself up, " – That's okay with me.

"I don't want to be a spoiled favorite, liked only because of the things I can do than for being the person I am. I don't care about that – but it's not okay with me that you think that we're not important or more accurately, that _they're_ not important. Mom and Dad raised you, clothed you, fed you, put you into every activity you ever wanted to be in, took out a second mortgage on the house because you wanted to go to Harvard, send you money and whatever it is they think you'll need. They paid for your wedding and paid off most of your student loans. If they could, they would be here in a heart-beat.

"And you, you selfish bitch, have the nerve to say that there's no time in your life right now? Are you fucking clueless!"

Becky's jaw was set and there was a steely look in her eyes. When she spoke, her voice was quiet and firm, "Chaya I would really prefer if you came inside so that we could discuss this in private. Our personal problems are not meant for my neighbours ears."

"Well now they are, considering they weren't even meant for your ears."

"You are such a little brat, Chaya," Becky said coldly. "And you say that I don't get my way? How many times have you gotten into trouble and our parents have looked the other way? How many times?"

"Is that what you think?" Chaya demanded. "I've spent most of my life grounded. You, you've never been punished ever in your life."

Becky sniffed. "That's because I was a good child. Mother and Father never _needed_ to punish me. It's not wonder they want my company so much when they have such useless screw-ups like you and Max in our family."

_Slap!_

Chaya hadn't even realized her hand moving, but all of a sudden she saw that Becky's face had been pushed over to one side, an angry red welt blossoming up on her cheek. Her sister's face registered complete shock while there was a cry from behind her and Chaya was pushed out of the way. Antonio was holding onto his wife, checking on her face, but the brunette pushed him off.

She was now glaring down at Chaya with so much loathe that Chaya wondered if she hadn't switched personalities with Clarkson for a moment. "What was that for you little bitch?"

"Say what you want about me, I have no problem dishing it back out," Chaya said coldly. "And yeah, I probably deserve some of it too – but if you ever talk about my brother that way again, I don't care if you're my sister and I don't care if you're pregnant, I'll beat the ever-living stuffing out of you, do I make myself clear?"

"Now see here – " Antonio began, but was silenced when both Chaya and Becky yelled at him, "Stay out of this!"

Chaya's blood was broiling, but for more reason than her rage. Out of the blue, something had clicked deep inside of her and it had taken this interchange with Becky to make it clear. The way that she had been acting for so long was the way a spoiled, bratty teenager should act, not a sixteen-year-old young woman who wanted to change the world. Seeing Becky and hearing her selfish reasons had dredged up Chaya's own selfish and unkind ways, the ones that she had been using to gain her way all year. To suddenly finding herself identifying with her older sister, whom she claimed to be so different from, sickened her.

All through the isolation of the past week she had known that she was at fault, something that although credible that she had recognized herself, hadn't really meant anything. She had known she was wrong – she hadn't known why. She had put out her anger on Max because he had called her on her selfishness – her uncaring and unchecked temper that was her greatest defence and weapon had ended up hurting someone close to her. She used her loud and complaining personality to make her problems the problem of the world, just as Becky did.

And she had gotten a taste of what Becky's life must be or would be if it weren't for the fawning, toady people in the law business. In an instant, Chaya knew that she didn't want that. She had alienated her friends and almost lost her best friend, just because she had wanted to act out and be a brat and involve everyone in her. Just like Becky.

And Becky was someone that she had never, ever wanted to be like.

"Is this what you think will make me do what you want, Chaya?" her sister was asking her, interrupting her contemplation. "Threatening me with bodily harm? You know, I'm pretty sure car boosting, general theft and driving without a licence are crimes in this state and the others that you've been cavorting through – want to add battery too? Because I have no problem lodging a complaint, even if you are my sister."

Chaya was wrenched back to the argument at hand, suddenly ready to fight anything her sister threw her way. It was time for her to make everything right, and bringing Becky home was just the beginning.

"Go ahead, right now, I couldn't care less," Chaya shrugged. "But you see, that's where we're different because you wouldn't go through with it because it might hurt your image. Mine's so screwed up already; I've got nothing to lose. So here," she grabbed the phone from her sister and held it up, "I'll even dial the number for you. It's still nine-one-one, right, or is there a specific organization that deals with sisters beating up sisters?"

Becky's eyes blazed. "I want you out of my house. Now."

Chaya shrugged. "I want out of your house too. But I'm not leaving unless you're in the car next to me and we're driving to Bethany. You can even bring that milk-toast of a husband of yours."

"I'm warning you, Chaya – "

"Haven't you been paying attention? Warnings don't work with me," she shook her head. "Now get in the car before I physically put you in there."

"Life must be so simple for you, huh?" Becky asked quietly, still glaring at her younger sister. The chill in the air was obviously beginning to affect her too, because she was shivering. Chaya considered actually accepting the offer to go inside. She was angry with Becky, but that didn't mean that she wanted her to get sick and risk complications for her kid. That would defeat the purpose of her coming here on behalf of Mercy and her family. "You misbehave enough and then you get your way?"

"If that's how it goes," she shot back.

"Well let me tell you how it works in the real world, sweetie," Becky's voice was dripping with malice. "In the real world the only people that are rewarded are the ones who play by the rules. The ones who take charge of their own lives within the law and go with it. And I'm doing that – I have a job, a family and a house that I'm very devoted to. And that's my life now; I'm not living yours any more."

"In the real world, she's your _mother_!" Chaya yelled. "Does that tiny little bit of information not mean anything to you? Don't you think she wanted to have a job and a family and a home the way that you do? What do you think she had to give up when she had you! Mom was lucky; she still managed the job and a home when so many other people out there have their lives ruined because of a mistake! And growing up, before me and Max, did Mom and Dad ever make you feel like you were a mistake? Come on, Becks, I've seen the damned photos that are plastered around our house – you barely ever see Max and I growing up, it's all you.

"How are you supposed to have a relationship with your kid when you only ever acknowledge your parents when it's convenient – like when you need money or someone to tell all your friends what a wonderful kid you were growing up?"

Chaya slowed down, her breath coming in ragged gasps that hurt her throat. She felt like crying for some reason, but managed to hold it back. "Please, just for Mom and Dad – get in the car and come see everything. A week – not even a week, three days – two days! Two days would be plenty! If you do this I will never, ever come here ever again and if I'm forced by Dad and Mom I'll lock myself in a room somewhere and stay out of your way for the duration of the trip, just please, come back home."

"I have appointments and business here, Chaya, I am not just going to put everything on hold for a quick trip down nostalgia lane," Becky replied. "Maybe in a few weeks I'll be able to get away, and if the baby decides to show up I'll have to wait until a few weeks after it's born and – "

"I'm not leaving this house until you come home with me – even if that means camping out on your doorstep."

"I'll call the cops. They'll bring you home if you don't stop harassing me," Becky reminded her.

Chaya narrowed her eyes. She had hoped that it wouldn't come to this. She hated dredging up this particular memory, considering she had played a rather mute role in it as well, but it had to be done. "Becky, do you remember when we were living in New York and there was this article in the paper about the theft of a two thousand dollar gold and diamond necklace?"

Her sister froze suddenly, her expression drawn into one of complete horror and guilt. Chaya wondered if she should go on, and when her sister made no move to shut up or cede defeat, she continued, pretending that she was completely sure of herself and her ploy of blackmail. Inside, she felt sick that she had given into a means of winning that she had only ever seen Becky use. "Do you remember how the day before that article came out you brought me to the store and convinced me to scream bloody murder so that you could make off with something to wear for your graduation ceremony? And that you were so guilty about it afterward and too chicken to return anything that you buried it in our backyard so that – "

"Alright!" Becky yelled, cutting her off as she stared from her determined sister to her utterly confused husband and then back. She knew that although Chaya didn't appear to have any problems with having a stain on her permanent record, Becky was mortified at the very thought. And this particular necklace had been a skeleton in her closet that she had nearly forgotten about completely were it not for the casual reminder every now and then from her younger sister.

She was backed into a corner and knew it, something that Chaya felt proud of for a fleeting moment. She had never come out on top in an argument with her sister. And now, finally, when it came to something important, she had won.

She breathed a sigh of relief and smiled the first true smile in weeks.

Becky's eyes narrowed. "But two days is all I can spare – and Mom better not expect more than that. And after I do this we're square."

Chaya's flit of good-nature disappeared seconds later and her eyes narrowed. She could probably blackmail Becky into a full week, but knew that this would be pushing it. She had been ready to agree to the very least and knew that a week of Becky would be more misery than even she could put up with for her parents sake. She nodded once.

"Now that that's settled," Becky said coldly, "Come in before we all catch pneumonia." She grudgingly allowed Chaya and Miyami to enter the house, looking over their heads at her husband. "Antonio, you'll have to take a day or two off so that you can drive the car back to Bethany. Go pack our overnight bags while I call the airport and book seats on the next flight to Oklahoma. And make sure that…"

Chaya let her sister's bossy directions wash over her as she glanced triumphantly at Miyami. Her friend was smirking at her and shaking her head and for a moment some unshakeable shared moment existed between them and Chaya was so glad that she had Miyami as her best friend.

Of course, the moment passed when Becky screeched at her to get her slushy boots off of the carpet, but Chaya overlooked that, intent as ever to bask in the glow of her first real success in months. That was one battle down, now she needed to face her brother, her angry parents, the rest of the school…and Kai Hiwatari.

'I am soooo in for it…'

* * *

Alright, so this one was fun to write. I got to spew insults and stuff and actually have Chaya finally slap someone and she made some nice soul-searching discoveries. Not bad for a days work in Chaya's life – although, she is right. She's going to need a major attitude adjustment and lots of groveling to get her friends back on her side. And it's going to be much harder to deal with Max and Kai…

For those of you wondering what's going on between her and Kai…you'll have to wait a little so that it's all explained.

So, until next time,

R&R,

KuriQuinn


	34. Black Eyed Valiant

_**Burning in the Sea**_

Author: KuriQuinn

Title: Burning in the Sea

Fandom: Bakuten Shoot Beyblade

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade, never will and have no intention of leading a crusade to try to own them. That's too much money and too much effort. However, I do like to manipulate the characters to do my bidding because it amuses me and countless others. This is the only disclaimer you will see in this fic, so if you decide to review me saying that I didn't give credit to the real person that came up with Beyblade (Aoki Takao) I will calmly tell you to go screw yourself. That is all.

Fanfiction Disclaimer: Chaya is my own creation, as is anyone else that you don't recognize. Miyami belongs to Mags, my best friend. Aurelia Delk belongs to Band-Freak aka Lobo-Chan. Flash Jameson and Iris Messana are inspired by my real life friends, Flash and Iz. Just to clarify that…

Rating: R for language, mature themes and mature humor

Pairing: Figure it out.

Takes-Place: Alternate Universe

Summary: When you live in small town, where everything and everyone is the same, what are you supposed to do? Why, wreak whatever hell you can, of course

**

* * *

Chapter Thirty-Four: Black Eyed Valiant**

"_Ladies and gentlemen, we will be arriving at the Will Rogers World Airport in five minutes. Please tuck in your trays and place your seats in their upright positions as we begin our descent. Thank you for flying with American Airlines,_" the voice of one of the flight attendants washed over the large passenger jet that was just hovering over the city of Oklahoma.

Chaya pressed her grinning face against the thick glass pane of the airplane's windows, staring down at the crisscross of fields in the distance as well as the tiny child-sized images of city life below her. She had been smiling ever since she, Becky and Miyami had gotten on the plane four hours earlier, even as Becky complained about radiation and strain on her unborn baby. Surprisingly it had been Miyami that had piped up that flying was safe for a pregnant woman as long as she had not yet reached her thirty-sixth week. Becky had surprisingly shut up about this.

The entire flight Chaya had tried to fathom what kind of reception would meet her at home. She knew her mother probably wouldn't care about the punishment as long as Becky was there – just as well as she knew that her father was going to be stark raving made and probably ground her for the rest of her natural existence and maybe into her next life, but she was counting on Becky's presence to somehow dampen the blow back down to normal six-month grounding period.

As for Max…she lost her smile slightly for a moment when she remembered how angry her brother was with her right now. And rightly so.

'Well, I'm going to sit him down and apologize to him right away,' she told herself grimly. The chance of him forgiving her was slim to none, but it was a better chance than she deserved. As far as Chaya was concerned, Max could take as long as he wanted to finally forgive her, as long as he knew that she hadn't done any of this to him intentionally. 'And as soon as my home-life isn't a complete and total mess…'

Kai's face flashed to her mind again and she leaned back, hitting her head against the headrest of the airplane chair. She didn't know what she was going to do in that case. She didn't even know what had gone wrong. But, she decided, if she could corner him somewhere she might be able to figure it out. If there was one thing that she was good at, it was prying information out of people; even people as stony and unyielding as Kai.

"Hey."

She glanced at Miyami, who was sitting one seat in front of her. Becky had not been able to procure them seats all together on such short notice, although Chaya thought this was probably a good idea. Her sister was sitting up front near the first class, where the flight attendants were doting on her because she was pregnant. If she had to spend four hours next to her sister, who was acting like a child, she would have thrown her from the plane.

"Hey back," she smiled weakly up at her friend.

"First thing I'm going to do when I get back home is have a nice, long bubble-bath," Miyami grinned, pushing her hair out of her eyes. "With those little bath ball things and some good tunes – I haven't listened to any music worth listening to since we left."

"Hey, the car had good music," Chaya protested lightly, although more out of habit than anything. The fact that Miyami was joking around with her again was something she didn't feel like taking for granted just yet.

"When it wasn't static, you mean," her best friend snorted, sitting back in her seat. Chaya laughed at her and looked back out the window. "But seriously dudette –"Chaya glanced up again at the serious tone in Miyami's voice, even though she wasn't looking at her, "– just calm down. Everything'll be fine, okay? Your parents are usually cool with the stunts you pull. You've gotta admit – a sixteen-year-old abducting her best friend and driving across five states without getting caught by a cop or crashing the car is a pretty impressive achievement. Your folks don't really have anything to ground you for except running away and not listening when they told you to come home."

Chaya smiled.

"And forget about everything else – the main thing is, you got your sister here, right?"

Chaya sighed and nodded, "Yeah, you're right."

"Of course I'm right," Miyami announced, as though there had been any doubt. "I'm me, remember?"

"Sure, 'Yami. That automatically indicates perfection."

"Damn straight."

"I was being sarcastic."

"…Oh."

(-)

"So I'll see you tomorrow at school, okay?" Miyami inquired, leaning on the open window of the cab. She grinned encouragingly at her friend, "That is, I'll see what's left of you."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Chaya moaned, rolling up the window as her friend laughed and waved, before running up the driveway of her house and ringing the doorbell. The cab remained in place until the door opened and Miyami's brother dragged her inside, before Becky snapped at him to continue driving.

Chaya smiled at the insolent look in the man's eyes through the rear-view mirror and settled a little more comfortably back into the leather seat. The cab was left in utter silence, which although uncomfortable, was usual. Chaya and Becky had refrained from speaking directly to one another since leaving the house in Klamath Falls. So far it was working as neither of them had yet to kill the other.

Her smile quickly vanished when she realized that they would soon be pulling into the driveway of her home. This meant that she was nearing the inevitable tirade of the ages from her parents the minute she walked in the door. The phrase 'time to meet your maker' sprang to mind with the most grisly connotations she could imagine.

The question of why she should be nervous sounded over and over. She had done them a bloody favour going to get Becky. All the ever complained about was that her older sister wasn't there and now that she was they wouldn't be able to any more. And they couldn't very well say that Chaya only ever did things when there was something in it for her, considering she had just gone out of her way and risked jail time to get the annoying woman.

Of course there was the argument that she had run away just to get away from her problems, and that she had involved her best friend, and that she had disobeyed her father when he told her to come home, not to mention the entire theft of their car and her mother's wallet ---

She ordered herself to stop thinking about it; the more she did, the more she realized that she was on the losing side of the debate and that no amount of argument could get her out of there.

Still, she wasn't exactly prepared when the cab swerved up into the drive of their home and got out to get their suitcases for them. Apparently, unlike Chaya, the cabbie was eager to get rid of them. It either had something to do with the deadly tension between the two sisters, or the fact that Becky had practically snarled the directions of their house to them when they started out.

Chaya had a feeling which one was the right answer.

She glanced up at the door, frowning at the normalcy of everything. From the tone of her father's voice a the day before, she had believed he might have called the police or the national guard or the FBI – but the street and the entire neighbourhood was quiet, without the hint of anyone knowing or caring about the private drama that was currently unfolding right in front of Chaya's home.

"Move it," Becky snapped, pushing past her and striding up to the house. Chaya could have sworn that she was kicked by the unborn child in her sister's womb. She thought vaguely that if her niece or nephew didn't grow up hating her, it would indeed be a miracle.

Becky punched the ringer of the doorbell, and when seconds later nothing happened, she pushed it again and a third time. Mid fourth-ring, there was a clicking noise and suddenly the door sprang open, revealing the weary and discomfited face of their father.

Chaya felt her throat tighten; her father looked as though he had aged since she saw him not three days earlier. His eyes rested on Becky for a moment, surprise and awe registering on his face. "Becky…?"

"Hi Daddy," she cried sweetly, her moody frown magically transformed into a wide, flawless smile. She reached out to him and hugged him; even to Chaya, standing a few feet away the hug was mechanical on both sides.

"Becky, what are you – ?"

"I picked up a little traveler out by us, and figured she was better off at home," her older sister crooned, nodding over her shoulder towards Chaya. Her father looked past, noticing his younger daughter in the background where she was trying not to meet his eyes and failing miserably.

"Chaya…"

She barely heard her father before she realized that he was moving past Becky and scooping her into his arms, holding onto her tightly. Frozen to the ground in shock, almost unable to breathe as her father held her close, she exchanged startled looks with Becky. Her older sister seemed completely stupefied to realize that for once she had been passed over for Chaya.

The discomfort was brief when her father pulled away and held her roughly at arms length, frowning at her angrily but unable to hide the glint of worry in his eyes. "Don't you ever, _ever_ do anything like that again, young lady, do you have any idea how worried all of us have been? You could have gotten caught by someone or worse, gotten into an accident – what would we have done if something happened to you? I can not believe how selfish you have been lately!"

"I-I'm sorry," she stammered, them being the only words she could conceivably force to her mouth at the moment. Chaya was still slightly shell-shocked – but it was nothing to what happened next.

Drawn out by the voices in the porch, Chaya's mother appeared in the doorway, dressed in a housecoat and with a blanket over her shoulders. Like her husband, she first stared at Becky incomprehensibly, and then noticed Chaya being gripped tightly by her husband. A surprised and strangely exulting cry escaped her lips and suddenly not only was Chaya being held onto by her father, but her mother had scooped her up from behind and had pressed her face into her hair.

"My little girl…" she murmured, "I was so worried."

Chaya was completely sure for a moment that she had been turned to stone. The fact that her mother, the woman who since she was little had treated her like a time-bomb and the only child that she had ever been disappointed in, was there, hugging her and speaking to her with genuine motherly undertones. She couldn't remember the last time this had happened.

She looked away, some strange heavy sensation pooling through her body. Even her voice seemed strained when she whispered, "Sorry. I'll never do it again, I promise."

She looked up as she voiced her last words, meeting her twin's eyes for the first time in weeks from his vantage point in the doorway. From her sister's expression, Becky obviously expected Max to come join the odd and showy group hug that was going on in the front lawn. When he didn't, something seemed to click and she glanced at Chaya expectantly, obviously realizing that there was something amiss.

Chaya was saved from having to do anything as her parents pulled away and finally started to return to normal.

"Becky, sweetheart, you brought her home," their mother murmured, a smile on her face as she went to hug her eldest child, mindful of the pregnant belly between them. "Thank you so much, honey."

Becky was in the spotlight and all smiles again. "No problem, mom – I figured it was driving you guys crazy out here not knowing where she was. Antonio's bringing the car back as we speak – oh, and here," she rummaged into her coat and procured Judy's wallet, which she had taken from Chaya none-too-gently upon their arrival in Oklahoma. "I think you might want this back."

"My wallet!" she clutched it and turned to Chaya, angry, "You, missy, are in big trouble – honestly, I've taught you since you first started grabbing onto whatever you could not to take my things without permission, and the first chance you get you steal from me? I hope you know that you're grounded from now on. And don't even try to plea-bargain with your father over this because he agrees with me." Her mother put her hands on her hips, looking fierce. "And if you ever do anything like this again, we'll be calling the cops and you can spend some time in jail. Got it?"

"Yes Mum," Chaya swallowed, knowing full well that her mother was serious. The look in her eyes was the same one that she knew formed on her face when she was setting her mind to something – it was the same look that was on Max's face of late. The thought didn't comfort her.

"Now that that's settled," Judy cleared her throat and put an arm around Becky, "Come on sweetheart, let's go get some tea – I won't let my daughter and grandbaby stay out in the cold like this."

"Thanks – Mother, do you have any organic green tea? I'm trying to keep a preservative free diet for…"

Their voiced trailed off as they entered the house, leaving Chaya, her father and her brother staring at one another. After a second, Max disappeared as well, the moment of recognition between them gone. Chaya stared after her twin longingly and then looked away, knowing it would still be a while. She still had a long bit of grovelling ahead of her if she wanted to be forgiven – she couldn't force it.

Her father was now looking down on her, a peculiar look on his face. He shook it off and then said to her, face void of any expression. "You realize how serious this is, right Chaya?"

"Yeah," she sighed. "I – I really wasn't thinking, it just sort of…happened."

"Oh, I've no doubt about that," her father snorted. "You've always taken things into your head and carried them out without thinking. And that's what worries me. Not because you do it with the intent to cause harm, but with the harm that can be caused because of your actions. This time it all worked out, but what if it hadn't? It wasn't just you out there, Chaya. You had Miyami with you – and that involved her parents, your friends and their parents when we tried to find out where you were – not to mention you dragged your sister into this."

"I did that for you!" Chaya protested, unable to keep quiet. "For you and Mom! You were all depressed and dreary about her not being here to see Mercy and Mom kept complaining about it – and the reasons she was giving was just selfish – I know you guys call me selfish, but she was _really_ being selfish!"

Her father paused for a moment and she thought she saw a ghost of a smile on his face, before he shook his head, "You should have talked to your mother or me. We all knew Becky's reasons for not coming by, and they're all plausible – " he noticed Chaya's expression, " – that's not to say we're not happy to see her. I'm just saying that you need to think a little more. Try to foresee the consequences before you do things rashly. If you don't, life's going to be pretty hard for you."

"Tell me about it," Chaya sighed, looking down at the ground. Her hair fell around her face, hiding her eyes.

"Look, sweetheart, I know that you and Max are going through some trouble right now." Chaya looked up in surprise. "I'm not a complete fool to recognize when siblings are fighting. I've been there myself. My guess is you did something without thinking and pissed him off. And if must have been something pretty bad to get your brother angry like that." Her shoulders hunched. "Don't worry. It will blow over. It has to. What you guys don't understand is that you're all each other has."

Her father leaned heavily on the wall of the front porch, apparently not caring that the brick was cold and damp with snow. "You and Max are best friends; you're brother and sister. You're two halves. If something ever happens to your mother and me, that's it. You don't have any other siblings to turn to. Becky has her own life and will look out for you for a while – but in the long run, it's you two. And I'm counting on your both to look out for your little sister now. You'll only ever have each other to turn to because you're closer to each other than any other person on earth – I'll warrant that even one day when you both get married, you'll still be closer to one another than your spouses. It's just the way things are." He smiled weakly up at her. "So just let this fight run its course and remember it's not the end of the world."

He hugged her again and then began to walk back into the house.

After a second she turned as well and asked, "So how long is 'from now on'?"

Her father looked at her wryly. "In this case? I'd say it'll be a few months. Maybe until your graduation."

"But that's two years from now!"

"Guess you should have thought about that before you drove to Oregon in a stolen car."

"But – "

"Don't start," he warned.

She frowned, swallowing the bitter pill. After a further moment of contemplation, she added, "That doesn't include going to see Mercy, does it?"

Her father pondered for a second and then shook his head. "No." She looked hopeful. "Do you think I'll make the mistake of leaving you alone again? You're going to be watched twenty-four-seven from now on, kiddo."

And he disappeared into the house.

For a few seconds, Chaya remained alone outside, finally noticing the cool air assaulting her exposed cheeks and fingers. She sighed, "Guess I can lived with that."

The new rules were strict, but fair, she supposed. She sighed and smiled up at the sky, glad that at least one major hurdle had been destroyed. There were a lot more to deal with, but she believed she had grown up enough for one day. She had an entire rest of the school year to make things up with her brother and her friends – and if she didn't get it by then, she was going to join the French Foreign Legion or something equally strange and secluded.

There was a yowl and she looked just in time to see Harry skitter out of the house and jump into her arms, purring loudly and nicking her neck with her nails. Chaya snorted. Honestly, the cat was more of a dog sometimes…

She walked into the house, closing the door behind her and yelled through the house, "So Dad, can we go to the hospital…?"

* * *

It be short, it be sweet, it be the best I can do right now. I'm tired and this was a hard chapter to right. I'm really hoping that the seriousness goes down in the next chapter, but knowing the vein in which BITS has been taking of late, I doubt it. I do know that there will be more humour soon.

I'll edit this when I can, but I figure you guys have waited way to long for this chapter so here it is.

Oh, and in the coming chapters we return to the Kai/Chaya goodness.

R & R

Kuriness


	35. Gator Puppy

_**Burning in the Sea**_

Author: KuriQuinn

Title: Burning in the Sea

Fandom: Bakuten Shoot Beyblade

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade, never will and have no intention of leading a crusade to try to own them. That's too much money and too much effort. However, I do like to manipulate the characters to do my bidding because it amuses me and countless others. This is the only disclaimer you will see in this fic, so if you decide to review me saying that I didn't give credit to the real person that came up with Beyblade (Aoki Takao) I will calmly tell you to go screw yourself. That is all.

Fanfiction Disclaimer: Chaya is my own creation, as is Haley, Jennifer, Claire and anyone else that you don't recognize. Miyami belongs to Mags, my best friend. Aurelia Delk belongs to Band-Freak aka Lobo-Chan. Flash Jameson and Iris Messana are inspired by my real life friends, Flash and Iz. Just to clarify that…

Rating: R for language, mature themes and mature humor

Pairing: Figure it out.

Takes-Place: Alternate Universe

Summary: When you live in small town, where everything and everyone is the same, what are you supposed to do? Why, wreak whatever hell you can, of course

**

* * *

Chapter Thirty-Five: Gator Puppy **

"Do I have to go in there?" Chaya regarded the cafeteria doors warily, as if at any moment they would suddenly blast open towards her, leading into a fiery inferno. Her stomach was already doing a slew of gymnastic acrobatics; she didn't need to visions of doom to help along her paranoia. Gripping her paper-bag lunch tightly to her body without really caring that she was turning the sandwich within into a thick mulch, she glanced up at the only other person that was in the hall.

"Unless you want Clarkson on your case for loitering in the hallway or some equally stupid reason," Jackson shrugged as he swept down the hall with the huge dust broom. "Don't know what you're worried about – everything blew over a week ago. Nobody even cares anymore."

"The fact that even you know what happened is something to be worried about," Chaya glowered. "How do you even find this stuff out, anyway?"

He didn't answer her until he reached the corner, where he turned around and grinned wryly at her, his thick moustache twitching. "I lurk."

And he disappeared.

She shivered. For the umpteenth time, she wondered if Jackson was some kind of spy or even a former prison inmate; his uncanny ability to be in the know of everything was almost superhuman.

Returning her focus to the matter at hand…

The shouts and cries of the students on the other side of the doors were like the throes of torture surrounding her. She squared her shoulders. Things could be worse than walking into a cafeteria with people that saw you make a complete asshole out of yourself, she thought, trying to lighten her mood.

Funny, it didn't seem to help.

'Screw this,' she breathed deeply and burst forward, throwing open both doors almost with enough force to smack the walls.

Luckily, though, there was no sound or any indication of her entering the large room. She half-expected the majority of the students to drop what they were doing, run over and attack her with forks, knives and hastily-produced torches… Of course when they didn't, she felt foolish for even coming up with such a ridiculous conspiracy scenario. Pretending she was merely deliberating about where she would sit, she gazed about the room in search of a familiar and non-hostile face.

Almost immediately she zeroed in on her friends and caught Miyami's eye. For a few seconds they only stared at one another and then Miyami smiled wryly and nodded at her, gesturing for her to come over. Chaya hesitated, looking at the rest of the group who seemed unaware of her presence. Although she and Miyami might have begun patching things up, the rest of them hadn't had the pleasure of a two day hijacking…

When she didn't immediately move, though, Miyami yelled across the room, "If you don't get your ass over here now I'll be forced to serenade you with Johnny's newest batch of bad emo poems – "

A loud, "They're not emo!" from Johnny cut her off. Chaya couldn't hold back a smile and hurried over, feeling as though a giant weight had been lifted from her. She almost didn't notice the whispers that had started up as the others students noticed her making her way across the room. The trek towards her friends seemed to be a lot shorter this time around, especially considering instead of joining the whispers they seemed to be ignoring them.

She stopped within two feet of them, almost unsure that she had seen Miyami's gesture. The table was rather empty now that she looked; only Rei, Johnny, Miyami and Iris faced her now.

It was understandable where Tyson and Max were – probably sitting with Haley and Jenn as far away from here as possible. But Flash was also curiously absent – Chaya was unaccustomed to seeing Iris sitting without her best friend. Looking around, she saw that he was sitting across the room with a group of boys she recognized as the football team. His back was to her, but when he turned to ask for something, there was a wan grin on his face.

Utterly confused, she was brought back to earth by a grunt from Iris as she bit into a tomatoless piece of pizza , "You should sit down before you fall down."

"No, falling down would add to the ratings," Rei interjected. When Chaya frowned at him in total confusion, he rolled his eyes and clarified, "The Chaya Mizuhara Reality TV-Show. It's beating out _Survivor_ these days by twenty-three percent. Half the western hemisphere's tuned into your fifteen minutes of fame right now."

"Huh?" Chaya managed. She looked around, again aware of the sea of eyes that were fixed on her. The minute they saw her look back, almost everyone turned away in unison. She turned back and smiled grimly. "Oh. Well then they'll be disappointed, because I'm not nearly as interesting – I have no intention of eating a pig or disfiguring myself in fire."

"Awwww," Johnny moaned, looking put out.

There was a round of nervous laughter and she finally sat down. Immediately, the long and dreaded uncomfortable silence took hold; the entire table was aware of it and trying to ignore it, Chaya began to unload her lunch, studying each piece of food intently just to use up the time.

"You killed your sandwhich."

She jumped when she heard Iris' voice, a flutter in her stomach when she realized that Iris was actually talking to her and not at her. She smiled abashedly, "Uh, yeah…"

"That's sandwich homicide," Johnny added seriously. "I think the state penalty for that is twenty-five to life."

Chaya frowned downward at the mush that was once a solid. "Guess I should destroy the evidence then and eat it?"

"Gross," Johnny snorted. "Murderer and a cannibal."

"She'd only be a cannibal if she was also a sandwich," Rei remarked wryly, fixing his friend in an amused and somewhat pitying stare. "Last time I checked that wasn't the case – unless you're hiding something from us all, Chays?"

"Oh yeah, I regularly slather myself in mustard and mayo and lie on a lunch plate, ready to be eaten," she deadpanned, her muscles twanging horribly as she tried to keep from laughing it all up.

"That would be so hot…"

Silence.

Everyone stared at Johnny, who suddenly seemed to clue into what he had just said. "No-no-no, I meant the slathering part!" he shouted, holding his hands up defensively and suddenly turning as red as a beet. " – if she was naked – I mean, not slathered naked, but if it was just, you know – kinda like when those porn-stars get all covered in chocolate and –"

The staring was now accompanied by amused sniggering. Johnny sighed and hung his head, "I'm just going to shut up now…"

"Wise decision," Rei laughed. "Alright, are we all agreed that Chaya isn't a sandwich?"

"What is this, a consensus?" she demanded loudly.

"Agreed," Miyami interrupted her. "Not enough mustard and mayo slathering…" Johnny swung his fist at her and she ducked. "So you're not a sandwich, but you are a sandwich murderer."

"Reminder – I haven't eaten the sandwich in question yet," Chaya pointed out.

It was almost as though the past few weeks hadn't existed. Chaya accredited it to Miyami, who must have spoken to the others before she arrived. Even though everything still held that strained note in the background, it was a start. One that she grabbed onto readily.

"…so we'll be witness to the murder of the sandwich and your suicide from eating that rancid thing – and we'll be subpoenaed, and there'll be a lengthy court procedure and that'll be my fifteen minutes of fame," Miyami was ranting. "I refuse to go out like that! My fifteen minutes of fame better be for something cooler than a sandwich murder – something like, I flashed the world from the restaurant on the Eiffel Tower or whatever…"

"Now _that_ would be hot," Rei remarked casually, his words punctuated by vigorous nods from Johnny. Now it was Miyami's turn to try to swat the boys.

Chaya couldn't help laughingly remarking, "Not really, she hasn't got anything to flash."

Everyone stopped what they were doing as the words sunk in. Miyami looked especially stunned, moments before she suddenly shrieked _"Bitch!" _and dove for Chaya, while the guys and Iris laughed hysterically. "Oh yeah? Well at least I won't knock myself out one day with one of those watermelons _– you-you-you-you stereotypical blonde_!"

Chaya gaped.

There was another silence among the group, this one not uncomfortable or shocked, but the bated breath of calm before the storm.

"Stereotypical blond?" Chaya repeated, her tone matching the amused and challenging glint in her best friend's eyes. It was evident that the other's believed them to suddenly be on the verge of a large scale fight. In fact, the air itself was charged with enough tension that even Chaya could feel it. She knew that there were two outcomes to this – a joke, or another row based on insults that neither of them had meant in the first place.

Her first reaction was the usual kind – before the entire mess had started, if Miyami had said something like that even as a joke, Chaya would begin to argue and preach and then insult her in turn.

This time, she sat back, watching her best friend calculatingly. And then with a smirk that she had perfected after having been on the receiving end of it so many times from Kai, she shrugged, "Well that's your opinion. Now if you excuse me, I have a sandwich to murder."

To her surprise, Miyami laughed loudly, more of a bark than a laugh. "Aha! A confession!"

The rest of the table seemed to let out of a collective breath of air as Chaya picked up the sandwich – only to be stopped by a hand on her wrist.

"You're not actually going to consume that, are you?" Iris asked, looking at the offending condiment as though it were rat poison.

Chaya rolled her eyes, used to Iris' picky eating habits blanketing over everyone else's. "No, I'm just going to hold it up to my face an inhale deeply to get the sense that I'm eating it."

"Well good, because I won't let you eat it," the girl with the glasses told her matter-of-factly. "Your disgusting asparagus and mayo sandwiches I can stand…barely…but squished mustard and cheese is crossing the line." She grabbed the sandwich from Chaya's hand and lobbed it across the room, hitting an unsuspecting first year in the back of the head. With another quick gesture, she handed her half of her tomato-less pizza. "There. Enjoy."

"Enjoy what? There's nothing there," Chaya complained, staring at the lonesome piece of bread. There was barely even enough cheese on it to call it a pizza. "I thought there was some unwritten law that Italians are supposed to like tomatoes."

"Now who's stereotyping?" Iris shot back. "Eat the pizza."

"It's not pizza, it's just bread with cheese – "

"It's still food. Eat the pizza."

"Did anyone ever tell you how pushy you are –?"

"Eat the pizza, Chaya."

The group lapsed into a semi-comfortable conversation, mostly dominated by Chaya who told everyone about how her baby sister was doing fine and how she was grounded indefinitely. And then Miyami convinced her to tell the tale of their eventful trip to Oregon – which she embellished with over-dramatic scenarios, turning it into some kind of horror-movie-action chase. In the end it was just Miyami talking and Chaya listening in.

No one was really listening; they all seemed to be watching Chaya nervously, as though they half-expected her to do or say something to upset everything. Wanting to cut that off at the bud, she leaned over to Johnny with a grin and whispered, "So can I see these emo poems?"

(-)

The plan had been simple – find Max and Kai, corner them where they couldn't get away, talk it out – with blood involved if necessary. Chaya had spent the last two nights mentally preparing herself for the talk with both of them and truthfully couldn't say which one she was dreading more.

The first chance she got was that morning when she walked into the library, the last place she would ever expect for find Max. And yet there he was; sitting with Tyson, Flash and Haley and trying to keep his laughter down without the librarian noticing them. The sight of her brother laughing and smiling made her wonder if she should bother ruining his day by cornering him…but the reminder that even when he was home he refused to acknowledge her beyond a look was enough to dismiss that thought.

Of course the task of talking to him now was easier said than done, especially when moments before she began to approach him, her way was suddenly barred by Claire and three freshmen girls that she recognized by sight only.

The three of them were glaring up at her self-importantly, as though she had no business being there while Claire merely smirked angrily at her. Chaya barely had time to take in the appearances of the younger girls – the outrageous ostentatious clothing, teased hair and copious amount of makeup that made them look like clowns playing dress-up – before the Claire declared,

"If you're here to see Max, you can turn around right now and leave."

The shock that hit Chaya was almost nothing compared to the sudden red-hot embarrassment as everyone in the library, including the wrinkled librarian, looked up to see what was going on. Max, upon hearing his name, had caught her eye for a split second and then lowered his head accordingly. Tyson sent her a dirty look and then looked down as well, whispering something quickly to Max.

Without another moment, the entire group had suddenly packed up their things and moved away.

"Did you hear?" one of the freshmen demanded, straightening up and crossing her thin arms. Chaya looked down at the girl, who was freckled and blonde with braces that couldn't be hidden behind the thick, globular lipstick. She looked like she was trying to act like a hooker instead of her own age.

"Wanna tell me who your new friends are, Claire?" Chaya asked lowly, the calm voice not betraying the blistering anger that these no-nothing girls had interrupted her attempt to make peace with her brother. The brunette merely smiled nastily at her.

"We're Max's new posse," the freshman on the left announced, jutting her chin out at Chaya. "You know, considering he doesn't have that many people that can see past how cool he is."

"You're telling me I don't know my own brother?" Chaya repeated dully, out of the corner of her eye noticing the librarian getting up to come settle the altercation before it escalated. She would have to make the little interchange quick unless she was blamed for yet another disruption. She returned her gaze to Claire again, a bitter hatred beyond anything she had felt for her sister or Kai combined springing up within her heart. "Since when do you give a damn about Max?"

"You mean since blabbed to the entire school – "

"And I was about to apologize for that before you butted your hideous, make-up splashed noses into it," the blond growled, her eyes flashing in such a way that made the shortest of the three shrink a little and Claire merely narrow her eyes. "Maybe you guys should mind your own business next time, okay?"

"Max is our business!" the middle one snapped. "He's the only nice sophomore and you went and ruined his reputation by being a total bitch! And because of what you did to him, we're not letting you go neat him on our watch!"

The audience in the library had completely tuned in to yet another instalment of Chaya's life. She was beginning to resent the attention. She had never, ever wanted to be popular. Attention was good an all, but negative attention and popularity for being a notorious bitch was the last thing she had ever asked for. Having three mini-clones and Claire pretending to be Max's body-guards and treating her like the plague incarnate was more than she could stand at the moment.

"Claire, _toots_, why don't you back your overgrown ass out of my family's business before you end up in another sarcophagus," she whispered sweetly, delighting for a moment in how pale the other girl suddenly seemed. Her companions seemed a little confused and with an even sweeter smile, she added, "Oh, haven't you told your new _friends_ what happens when you piss me off? Maybe you should…"

Claire's lips thinned; the librarian was mere feet away. Chaya addressed the freshmen with a stern look, her entire demeanour a threat. "I don't like to be a bully and I don't beat up on freshmen – but if you don't stay out of my way, you're going to get it. I can be a total bitch when I want to and if you try to stop me from talking to my brother, I'll make your life a living hell."

She glared at Claire. "And I think it's safe to say that once Max and I are talking again that you're in for a whole world of hell, Mackenzie."

"Think that attitude's going to fix up your life, Mizuhara?" Claire snarled just as the librarian appeared before them asking, "Is there a problem here?"

"Oh, I intend it to," she hissed back at Claire, before telling the librarian in a calm voice, "No problem here – although Claire's trying to smuggle books out of the library under her sweater."

Without waiting to see what happened she strode out of the room, feeling as though something had suddenly snapped.

Chaya was beyond knowing that this was her own fault; she had accepted it and tried to fix it by acting penitent and apologetic and it had gotten her nowhere. She hadn't been herself for the reason that it had been herself to get her into this giant mess – but by trying to act good and pure and like someone else, it seemed to be making everything worse.

"If this is how they want to play, fine, we'll play," she growled to herself, earning stares from the passersby in the hall. For the first time in two weeks, she couldn't give a damn about any of them.

* * *

This chapter didn't turn out the way I wanted it to, but it is a step in the right direction. I've decided I'm just going to write out everything the way it comes out and then once I've finished the entire fic I'll go about with editing and stylizing it. Making you guys wait extra weeks just for some flourish which can be added later seems mean. Besides, it's just fanfiction – it's not like I'm trying to publish a book that's all spelling errors and grammar. 

The way I see BITS right now, it's my "Vacation writing" that means, it's my mad and fun senseless writing to get away from the structured mass that is my book. Once I have a good enough first chapter, maybe I'll post the opening paragraph and see what you guys think…?

Ciao for now,

Kuri


	36. Fruitless Tales

_**Burning in the Sea**_

Author: KuriQuinn

Title: Burning in the Sea

Fandom: Bakuten Shoot Beyblade

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade, never will and have no intention of leading a crusade to try to own them. That's too much money and too much effort. However, I do like to manipulate the characters to do my bidding because it amuses me and countless others. This is the only disclaimer you will see in this fic, so if you decide to review me saying that I didn't give credit to the real person that came up with Beyblade (Aoki Takao) I will calmly tell you to go screw yourself. That is all.

Fanfiction Disclaimer: Chaya is my own creation, as is Haley, Jennifer, Claire and anyone else that you don't recognize. Miyami belongs to Mags, my best friend. Aurelia Delk belongs to Band-Freak aka Lobo-Chan. Flash Jameson and Iris Messana are inspired by my real life friends, Flash and Iz. Just to clarify that…

Rating: R for language, mature themes and mature humor

Pairing: Figure it out.

Takes-Place: Alternate Universe

Summary: When you live in small town, where everything and everyone is the same, what are you supposed to do? Why, wreak whatever hell you can, of course

**

* * *

Chapter Thirty-Five: Fruitless Tales**

" I hate Valentines day!" Miyami shouted vehemently as she and Chaya marched through the hallways three days later. "I'm just cleaning up after groundhog day and suddenly the mailboy hands be a valentine!"

"From who?" Chaya asked, her voice distracted.

"From the mailman, duh," Miyami rolled her eyes. "And I can't exactly say that his is just lost in the mail…"

"Uh huh…"

"Chaya, are you even listening to me?" Miyami demanded, rounding on Chaya and glaring up at her. "You've been completely out of it for days now." Chaya sighed and finally decided to tell her what had occurred days before. When she was finished with her tale, Miyami merely laughed it off, as she usually did when Chaya expressed concern over something she thought to be serious. "I wouldn't worry about it. Claire's been trying to regain as much attention as possible since you became the Evil Bitch of Bethany High. You took over for her, remember?"

"Yeah, but taking advantage of first years?" Chaya asked wryly as they moved further and further away from their last class. She hadn't even taken a look at her marks for the last test, merely tossed them into her bag. She couldn't even remember taking it. "And what about Max? He didn't say anything and he hates Claire almost as much as I do."

"Well, he does kinda have a grudge against you lately," Miyami reminded, running a hand through her hair.

"I'm not about to forget that, everyone's been pointing it out to me for weeks now," Chaya deadpanned, shivering at a sudden chill up her back and folding her arms. "The only person who's completely oblivious to anything going on is Clarkson – she's just pissed that I haven't done anything worth being punished or expelled over."

Miyami snorted. "Knock on wood."

Wanting to be a smart-ass, Chaya reached over to knock on her best friend's head – but something down the hall drew her attention, allowing Miyami an opportunity to duck out of the way. She laughed and waited for Chaya to go after her, but then appeared to realize what Chaya was looking at.

She hadn't seen Kai for more than two weeks – and when she had, he always seemed to be whipping around a corner or out of the way. Ever since leaving her stranded in the cafeteria after reprimanding Tala for chewing her out, it was as though she didn't even exist. Things hadn't even returned to their usual cruel banter and pranks; if she had never believed that there was something worse than Kai being a total asshole to her, she was wrong. Being treated like she didn't merit existence was much worse.

Which was what he was doing right now, leaning over another faceless girl, the flirtatious, cool smirk on his face as he spoke a few coy words to her. The giggling girl, a sophomore that Chaya didn't know, played with her hair and chewed on her finger nail shyly.

A white hot rage pulled through her and she took a step forward, barely able to contain an utterance of anger. At the same time she felt Miyami pull her back, hissing her name, at the same time that Kai glanced up and met her gaze. For the first time in her life she couldn't discern his expression, even as he continued to stare at her icily. The nameless girl frowned when she realized that she had lost his attention and Chaya's fists clenched. The need to say some cutting remark or demand an answer for what was going on was all she could think of doing.

Stalking forward swiftly, she was within two feet of the two of them in moments; it was almost like always, when she would march up to Kai, make her case and demand an explanation – maybe hit him once or twice. Only this time she knew that it wouldn't be solved by a few hard hits and an argument. It was what his eyes were communicating to her. Her brusque arrival had drawn the attention of half of the faceless crowd that was running between classes, while Miyami merely stood by, apparently pretending that she was invisible.

"What the hell is going on?" Chaya demanded, right away matching glare for glare with the taller teenager.

He voice was silent and controlled compared to hers as he replied calmly, "Obviously I'm having a conversation that you're not included in. So why don't you take a hike and continue your self pity party somewhere else?"

The barb hit home and for an inordinate amount of time she forgot why she was even trying to talk to this cold-hearted bastard. "Oh, so this is what you meant by a relationship? Fool around with me a few days and if I don't worship you and put out by then I'm a lost cause?"

The glaring spark of anger that lit in his eyes was the only indication that her words had gotten through to him.

"Go away, Mizuhara." He put his arm around the girl and started away.

"You're an asshole, Hiwatari!" she yelled after him, turning on her heel and stalking off in the opposite direction, leaving Miyami alone in the hallway as the anger rose and fell at an explosive rate. Once she had turned the corner, though, she felt like everything just drained out of her, paling like every emotion and anger had been dunked in ice water.

Her ire was mixed thoroughly with confusion, a bitter stress at the fell that she couldn't keep track of what was going on. How had some stupid, pointless words brought about this entire mess? She was sick and tired of acting like her world was lace. And she intended to get answers, even at the risk of alienating others. At this point, no one else mattered to her as much as Max and Kai did –

She stopped completely in the middle of the hallway, regardless of the steady throng of people pushing past her, jostling carelessly by.

"Oh, shit."

Max, she understood – but Kai? Did he really mean that much to her? She was brought back to that night when she and Miyami had been on the way to Oregon, when she had suddenly realized why he meant anything to her. He had dominated her thoughts almost the entire trip – had he somehow become more to her because of a few kisses? Or was this the classic case of a spoiled child only wanting something once she not longer had it?

No, that wasn't the case – whatever had happened to make her feel for Kai had happened before. Long before, even before he had first kissed her the summer before. By then there had already been a crazy, strange relationship of insults, pranks and arguments. Ever since that first day it had been a constant. Not having even a remnant of that now was messing up her life and making the situation with her brother and the rest of the school so much more unbearable. She had a feeling that if she at least had Kai on her side, the rest wouldn't seem so dreadfully foreign to her.

And she had gone and done the complete opposite of making this known, she had just pushed him even further away.

She was jostled roughly from behind, nearly careening into a passing group of seniors. "Watch i---oh, it's you." Chaya regained her balance and gazed to see Kai's best friend looming over her, frowning at her with the air of intense dislike. "Why the hell are you standing around in the middle of the hallway?"

She made a face at him. "Never mind, it's none of your business. Now if you excuse me – "

She moved to push past him, intent to go find Kai and once again attempt some form of truce, but was pushed back with a force that was only slightly shy of rough.

"Excuse you," she frowned at him, shifting to go around him the other way. He moved to stand in front of her and when she tried to get around him a third time, he actually pulled her back into place with his hand as though stopping her from going anywhere.

"You just keep digging, Mizuhara; that grave just keeps getting deeper and deeper." His voice was no more than a hiss. "Any deeper and no one will know you're down there."

"That's okay, I intend to be cremated and have my ashes scattered to the wind," she replied with a false sugariness. "Maybe it's your grave, Ivanov, if you ever touch me again."

He smiled nastily at her. "Why don't you just give up and accept it? His little insanity trip over you is finished. You don't mean anything to him anymore."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night," she smiled, matching his tone completely. "you must be enjoying this, hm, Tala? I'm not around to take up all his attention, so you've got your boyfriend back, is that right?"

She didn't manage to move in time to avoid him as he grabbed out the front of her sweater, hauling her nose to nose in front of him, eyes blazing. "I'm not a fag like your brother, Mizuhara, don't fuck with me. Just walk away – from this and from Kai."

"Talk about my brother like that again and you'll never walk again," she warned him tightly, gesturing downward with her eyes, drawing his attention to her precariously place knee – one swift movement and he would never again have to worry about the possibility of children.

He snarled and let her go.

"You want to get into a fight?" she whispered to him, her voice barely audible even in the slowly emptying hallways as the other students disappeared into their classes. "I'm warning you now, there will be blood. And it'll be yours, guaranteed."

She straightened her shirt.

"Right," he snorted. "Remember the last fight you got in? Suspended and in a concussion. Kai worked you over pretty good."

"Yeah, but who ended up with the battle scars?" she reminded. "Kai's nose is still crooked from where I broke it. If we get into it, I won't leave you looking so pretty – how'll you get laid then, Ivanov? Your lovely personality?"

"Are you really one to talk about virtues after what you pulled?" he laughed bitterly.

"Pulled?"

"Don't act overtly stupid now, I know you have at least a few brain cells under all of that hair," he snarled. "Kai may act like a total asshole, and at most times he is – but he's still a human being. And he can still get hurt. And you used that to your advantage."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Chaya was utterly confused now. She knew that Kai was angry at her for some reason, but as far as she could remember, she hadn't done anything to warrant it.

"One day you were there, finally within his reach after fuck knows how long and then one thing happens and you're gone," the redhead seethed. "You didn't see him, acknowledge him – you avoided him completely – and then after a week of that you expected everything to be fine again."

"There was more going on than that!" Chaya cried. "I nearly lost my mother! And my little sister!"

Something seemed to register in Ivanov's face, but it was gone almost immediately. He scoffed, folding his arms and mumbled, "Bullshit."

"It's not bullshit!" she snapped. "As much as I'm sure the world thinks I have no life outside of high school, I do! But I don't publicize it and go on and on about my weekends or my family problems, because it's no one else's business! The only people that knew were Miyami and maybe one or two others, and they swore not to tell anyone else!"

"Well he didn't know," Tala pointed out. "And you didn't even care enough for him to tell him."

"I would have! It took me a week to get over it myself, besides! Kai and I…I wasn't even sure what to call what we were – are! I didn't understand myself how I felt and he's acting like I cheated on him or something – I only know now how I feel – if anyone should be angry, it's me for being treated like an idiot!"

"You're such frigid, selfish bitch," he accused. "It's all about you, isn't it?"

She gaped. "Oh, you're calling me selfish?"

"Yeah."

"Take a look in the mirror, buddy."

"You don't know a damn thing about me – "

"You're the one being an ass about Kai without knowing what he thinks of the whole situation, instead you put words in his mouth and pass them off as what he's feeling. And you don't give a shit about the fact that I care about Kai more than anyone would give me credit for, it's all about what you feel and what you want behind that damned poker face of yours!" she yelled, ignoring his look of surprise at the fact that she had caught on to this little detail about him. "You're an ass!"

The surprise disappeared as rapidly as it had appeared, masked with instense loathing. "Compared to you and the way you play people, I'm a saint. Besides, you've had your chance with Kai. I won't let you treat him like a doormat again."

"Okay, I get the picture, I'm a bitch," she growled. "I've been selfish and stupid and treated Kai and everyone I cared about like less than human. I get it. Free "I hate Chaya" pins for everyone! But I can at least see it and admit it, unlike some people. And I'm trying to change it; I'm trying to apologize but no one's listening. What can I say, I guess I deserve it – but I'm not going to sit there and leave it like that without at least trying."

She jutted her chin up at him threateningly. "I'm not fucking perfect. I never said that I was. I didn't just drop him like a bad habit the way you think I did. I had a crisis at home – there was no time to tell anyone what was going on before I myself understood it. The only reason Miyami and them found out was because Max needed to tell someone or go insane. The last time I checked, Kai's attitude towards my friends isn't exactly benign – he nearly beat the crap out of Flash for joking around with him _once_.

"If being preoccupied with my family is _selfish_, then fine, I'm guilty – lock me up and throw away the key, but for god sakes don't treat me like I'm a common criminal…" she stared him straight in the face, trying to catch her breath. She was aware that she was probably exceedingly red in the face at this point and that there was a strain on the back of her neck from staring up at him. "I wouldn't take back anything; if it hadn't happened I'd be worse off, still being a selfish 'frigid bitch', but it made me wake up and I'm trying to change! But you, you asshole, you think my making a mistake gives you grounds to judge me and treat me like shit.

"Kai is still important to me – I am not giving him up because of this and especially not because of you, because you're a hypocrite."

"Don't pretend that you know anything about me," Ivanov warned, his tones laced with a threat, "You know jack about me."

"I know that his friendship means more to you than you're ever going to admit," she told him candidly, inhaling deeply and trying to regulate her breathing again. Calming herself down was always the downside to getting riled up. "Otherwise you wouldn't be trying to hard to get rid of me." He narrowed his eyes. "Look, I don't like you – I will probably never like you. Ever. Kai has always had something about him that made me laugh or at least amused in a cynical kind of way. You, you're just a straight up asshole with absolutely no redeeming qualities."

"You're not exactly an angel yourself," he added gruffly.

"Exactly," she nodded. "Same for you." She glared now, squaring her shoulders and raising her fists. "But believe me when I say if I have to go through you to get to him, I sure as hell will – and I'm not afraid to play dirty. So go ahead and try to stop me."

Ivanov regarded her stonily for several long seconds, not looking anywhere else but her face. She could almost see the wheels and cogs in his mind working overtime, weighing his options and trying to decide on a course of action. Finally he ended up shaking his head with a snort, "Well you're right about one thing." She glanced at him quizzically as he shifted so that he was no longer standing in front of her. "I'm never going to like you."

It took some time for his words to sink in and for her comprehension to finally dawn, but when it did, Chaya suddenly had the biggest urge to hug him – for once, things seemed to be going right after she had talked things out. Of course she didn't act on the impulse, as it would probably negate everything that had just been exchanged between the two of them.

"Thank you," she said, with the barest hint of a smile. She went to run back towards where Kai had gone, fully ready to burst into whatever class he was in just to talk to him.

Of course she didn't see the casually placed foot or realize until it was too late that her head had suddenly collided with the nearby locker as a result of that.

The world spun, even as she hit the floor with a dull thump; she had the vague sensation of a shadow, someone leaning over her. She knew it was Tala only because of the vibrant red hair before her eyes, as it was the only colour she seemed to be able to see at the moment.

In a sea of thoughts and dizziness, there was sound.

"Oh yeah – forgot to mention that I play dirty too."

It was the last thing she heard before she completely blacked out.

* * *

Wow – I didn't even plan for that to happen and it did; this would be a fine example of where the story sometimes decides to go out of my hands. Besides, I figured you guys needed an unboring chapter this time around so this little embellishment helps. I gave you some Chaya/ Kai interaction, some Kai/Tala friendship in there and a bit a witty insults and jokes. All in a days work (actually, I wrote this chapter in Literature, Russian History and Tutoring respectively, so I'm amazed I actually managed a few good quotes in there…)

I'm going to bed, if I have time I'll put up the next chapter on Sunday,

Read and Review please,

Kuri


	37. Tragedy Whore

_**Burning in the Sea**_

Author: KuriQuinn

Title: Burning in the Sea

Fandom: Bakuten Shoot Beyblade

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade, never will and have no intention of leading a crusade to try to own them. That's too much money and too much effort. However, I do like to manipulate the characters to do my bidding because it amuses me and countless others. This is the only disclaimer you will see in this fic, so if you decide to review me saying that I didn't give credit to the real person that came up with Beyblade (Aoki Takao) I will calmly tell you to go screw yourself. That is all.

Fanfiction Disclaimer: Chaya is my own creation, as is Haley, Jennifer, Claire and anyone else that you don't recognize. Miyami belongs to Mags, my best friend. Aurelia Delk belongs to Band-Freak aka Lobo-Chan. Flash Jameson and Iris Messana are inspired by my real life friends, Flash and Iz. Just to clarify that…

Rating: R for language, mature themes and mature humor

Pairing: Figure it out.

Takes-Place: Alternate Universe

Summary: When you live in small town, where everything and everyone is the same, what are you supposed to do? Why, wreak whatever hell you can, of course

**

* * *

Chapter Thirty-Seven: Tragedy Whore**

"Look at her face…"

"That's going to leave a mark – or at least a huge bruise – "

"It's a wonder she's not awake and complaining about it, it looks painful."

"Shh! She's waking up!"

The world of the living all rushed back to her at once, causing a sudden throb of pain to circulate her entire head as though it were on fire. Moaning, she pushed herself up onto her elbows, squinting into the fluorescent light of the room. It took a little while for her to reorient herself as she looked around uncomprehendingly, before the situation finally dawned on her.

She was lying in the hard cot of the school nurses office, being leaned over by the school nurse Mrs. Nielson and surrounded by the anxious faces of her friends. Miyami, Johnny and Iris seemed to take up the entirety of the space in the small office but despite that managed to look incredibly worried.

"Chays, are you alright?" Miyami was the first to speak, practically knocking the nurse out of the way as she moved forward to hug her friend. Mrs. Nielson managed to bounce back immediately though and cut her off.

"Calm down and give her some space!" she ordered, reaching forward and checking Chaya's vitals and probably for any sign of brain trauma. Just as her thumb brushed past Chaya's right cheek, pain blistered outwards in an excruciating burn.

"Ow!" she yelled, jerking backwards ad away from the nurses prodding fingers, at the same time bashing her head on the wall behind her. "OW!"

"It should hurt – you're entire face is swollen up," the woman reprimanded, not realizing that Chaya had just hit herself again. "Miss Mizuhara, why is it always you?"

Chaya made a face, which hurt, and ended lamely, "Just lucky?"

Mrs. Nielson sighed and went to search for another ice pack.

"What happened, Chaya?" Miyami asked slowly, a constrained look on her face. "The janitor found you in the second floor broom closet with a tarp thrown over you."

"What happened?" she repeated, glancing questioningly at the others as she sat up a litte more. Everything seemed to rush back to her at once and she moaned, lying back again. "Oh…never mind…I remember. Stupid bastard…"

"Who?" Johnny demanded, his face flushed red in what Chaya realized belatedly was protective anger. "Hiwatari? Did that asshole hit you?"

"Kai?" Chaya repeated dumbly, trying to picture that. Kai had only hit her once, after she had punched him and then threatened him into fight. He had never, ever raised a hand to her otherwise and despite how much he currently hated her, she doubted that he ever would. "No, not Kai. The other one – his asshole best friend. He – "

"Tala did that?" Miyami exclaimed. "Why? Did he do anything else…you?"

She knew that Miyami was asking her, but there was something in the question that just didn't compute. Slowly, she shook her head, still frowning. She remembered Tala tripping her and knocking her out – between then and now anything could have happened.

Still, she knew that Tala hated her enough to not do something stupid like that. The risks of getting caught would just be too much to him and his oh-so-calculated personality. Besides, if he tried anything, she and everyone she knew would go after him with everything they had. "We were, er, 'exchanging words' and he – "

_Slam!_

She whipped around just in time to see the door slam shut, causing the glass to shake worryingly. Frowning, she asked the guys, "What was that?"

"Uh…Max was here," Miyami told her after a momentary hesitation. "The office called him down as soon as Jackson found you and – "

Chaya blocked out the rest, freezing up; she didn't have time to be elated at the fact that Max didn't hate her enough not to worry about her when she was hurt. Realization at what had just happened repeated itself over and over in her mind and she scrambled up. "Oh shit!"

"Chaya, sit down – !"

"Lie down, young lady, you need to relax or you'll – "

"Max is going to kill him!" Chaya cried frantically, trying to fight her way out of the grasp of her friends and the nurse. She tossed hurried glances in every other direction, trying to locate her boots and jacket. They had been removed upon her arrival, most likely.

"So?" Iris asked, raising an eyebrow. "For what he did, isn't that a good thing?"

"No, you don't get it," Chaya hissed worryingly. "Ivanov didn't do anything – I mean, he did, he tripped me into a locker and then stuffed me into a broom closet – but the way were walking before, Max might think he raped me or something."

Johnny snorted unconcernedly. "So he'll be pissed. I wouldn't worry, this is Max we're talking about. He can't do _that_ much damage."

Chaya gaped at him, trying to understand how he wasn't worried and then pursed her lips, swatting the nurses hands away from her and jumping from the cot. Ignoring her dizziness at suddenly standing upright, she asked quietly, "Have any of you ever seen Max mad?" They all opened their mouths to affirm, but Chaya raised her hand. "I mean really mad – not angry or upset, but stark-raving, violent-serial killer temper mad."

Her friends appeared to be at a loss.

"I didn't think so," Chaya groaned, already on her way out of the office despite the protests of the school nurse.

Miyami ran after her, nearly careening into the door that Chaya hurried through without holding open. "Am I sensing a story behind this?"

"Cliff notes?" Chaya asked as she heard her friends and the nurse all burst through and start running after her and Miyami. "We were ten. Max involved, two out of the three guys ended up in a hospital."

Miyami looked panic-stricken. "You're shitting me, right?"

"No, it was the first time Judy was ever pissed off at him," Chaya grunted as they punted around a corner, her nearly slipping on the waxy floor in her socks. "He's never done anything like that again, but this time…I just have this feeling, okay?"

Miyami didn't have a chance to say anything to that as moments later, they both were cut off by the sudden shouts and yells that echoed in the hallway. Students ran in all different directions, yelling excitedly about the fight that was taking place in the main hall. The overall atmosphere seemed to be charged with disbelief as the names 'Mizuhara' and 'Ivanov' echoed all around, between the chanted mantra _'Fight! Fight! Fight!'_.

The sounds of muffled grunts and shouts of pain were barely audible throughout the din as Chaya and Miyami pushed through the mesh of students. Behind them, she noticed Johnny and Iris exchange glances before beginning the physically throw people out of their way. Mrs. Nielson hurried off, most likely to find another teacher to help her out.

When she finally reached the scene, Chaya could only stare in horror at what was transpiring. Max had Ivanov down on the ground, sitting on his chest and punching him repeatedly in the face. Blood from both parties pooled around them as a moment later, Tala had rolled Max off of him and taken over the attempt to knock his head into the floor.

"Max! Stop it, he didn't do anything!" Chaya yelled, hurrying to join the fray. "It was an accident, my own fault!"

There was a strong hand on her arm that pulled her back and she found herself staring into the eyes of Tyson. The usually light-hearted and comic face of her brothers boyfriend was unnaturally pulled into a stern expression.

"He knows," the blue-haired boy said simply. "Ivanov told him that right off and said you'd say the same thing. That's not what this is about."

"…then what?" Chaya was surprised, for a moment losing all of her drive.

"Ivanov decided to play the moron and call Max a faggot," Tyson said. "I think Max was just looking for a reason to hit him, but the guy gave him more than one. The shit coming out of his mouth before the blood wasn't fit for anyone's ears."

She watched Max land a bone cracking hit to Ivanov's jaw and winced, wondering belatedly if she should intervene or not. Although Ivanov was an inch shorter than her brother, he was a lot more muscular. And she knew that he had a lot more fighting experience than her brother.

After another punch that had Max flying head first into a locker and some more blood hitting the floor, she made her decision. Breaking out of Tyson's grasp, she ran forward and stood in front of her brother, holding her hands up protectively as Ivanov stood up, slowly recovering himself. Rivulets of blood from a cut pulled through his eye as he glared down at her.

As loud as it had been, it was suddenly quiet. The appearance of Max Mizuhara's sister, the one who had publicly humiliated him not weeks ago and who everyone knew hadn't been anywhere near him within that same amount of time had not been expected. Eye flitting around, she could see the overly annoyed looks on Claire and her posse's faces, while the whispers about the bruise on her own face suddenly exploded like wild fire.

"Move it, Mizuhara," Ivanov snarled, revealing that he was missing a tooth.

"Didn't I say if you're screwed with my brother you'd never walk again?" she growled.

"What in our history makes you think I give a damn about what you say?"

"Then I'll say it again, just to be clear," she sneered back. "Don't. Fucking. Touch. My. Brother."

He made another face and in one movement lunged forward with a right hook, aiming for the unbruised part of her face.

Chaya didn't know how she did it; the minimal amount of reflexes that she still had left made her move, at the same time grasping the fist that was speeding towards her. Using her own clumsy momentum, she managed to pull his entire arm over her shoulder and twist sideways.

The massive crash that resulted barely moved her and she didn't realize what had just happened until she looked down and realized that the arm she was holding was attached to Ivanov, who was currently smashed face-first into the locker.

A general uproar overtook the silence and there were loud yells for the nurse and a few scattered cheers for Chaya and Max. Paying them no heed, she glanced at Max, who wasn't meeting her gaze, and then bent over the redhead, who was groaning. Picking him up and propping him against the locker, she bent over and frowned, taking in the injuries.

In addition to the wounds from Max, Ivanov now had a broken nose thanks to his altercation with the locker and a bruise that matched her own. She couldn't hold back a smirk.

"You alive, Ivanov?" she asked, prodding him lightly in the face. He groaned and glared up at her through bloodshot eyes. She chuckled. "Payback's a bitch, ain't it? I told you it would be your blood on the floor."

Ivanov didn't reply, merely glaring sullenly at the floor. Turning her attention from him, Chaya hurried over to Max and helped to pick him up off of the floor, not caring if he still wasn't speaking to her. Almost the minute she managed to straighten them both up, though, she felt a pair of arms encircle her and her face was pressed into her brother's chest.

Stunned, Chaya could only stand frozen in her brother's embrace, not knowing how to react. She was saved from having to, thought, because seconds later the yell that she had been waiting for since approaching the fight rang through the loud hall:

"MIZUHARA!"

Chaya froze, turning around quickly within her brother's arms. Clarkson was standing right there, her hands on her hips, a triumphant look on her face as she stared beadily down at the blond girl.

"This is the second time since you've been here that you've assaulted another student," the woman said with a smirk that could only be called gleeful. "Come to my office, Miss Mizuhara, we have a lot of talking to do. Starting with a warrant for your immediate expulsion – "

"She didn't do it."

Clarkson stopped, looking surprised that she had been cut off. Chaya gaped, open-mouthed at her brother, as he let her go and walked up to Clarkson. He crossed his arms and looked down at her with a frown. "I did. Tala was insulting me and I started the fight. Chaya only stopped me. Right, Ivanov?"

In response, Ivanov glowered up, opening his mouth as though he wanted to sat something, but then closed his mouth just as suddenly. It was as though he saw something in Max's eyes because after a moment he sullenly nodded and pulled himself up.

Clarkson's mouth gaped; it wasn't the only one. All around, the on-lookers couldn't believe what they had just seen and heard. Both Max _and _Tala Ivanov were covering for Chaya? It was unheard of – well, not so much Max, but the fact that Tala was helping along the story.

It was something that would fuel gossip for weeks.

At a loss at what to do, Clarkson snorted and then nodded, motioning Tala and Max to follow her, leaving Chaya standing as though turned to stone in the hallway.

Still, before he left her, Chaya felt her brother grab her hand and squeeze it, sending her the smallest of smiles she had ever seen on his face. She recognized it for what it was almost right away – things were far from okay, but it was a beginning.

At the same time, though, she noticed Kai standing in the crowd with an unreadable expression on his face.

It was only when she got home that day and was getting ready for bed that she realized that Kai had been standing right behind Max when he had announced that he and Tala had been fighting. It hadn't been Max that Ivanov had been cowered into agreeing with by, but because of Kai.

* * *

Yes, it's short, but thing was just dragging on and pissing me off...

So it's mostly resolved now. All that's left is the Kai/Chaya factor, right? This chapter was hard to write because I'm currently experiencing back problems which made it hard for me to concentrate on the setting and the story without going off to complain to someone every five minutes – also, I'm writing essays for class and have my attention divided between everything…

Anyhow, enjoy, and I hope to have the next chapter up within the week.

R & R,

Kuri


	38. Soda Toss

_**Burning in the Sea**_

Author: KuriQuinn

Title: Burning in the Sea

Fandom: Bakuten Shoot Beyblade

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade, never will and have no intention of leading a crusade to try to own them. That's too much money and too much effort. However, I do like to manipulate the characters to do my bidding because it amuses me and countless others. This is the only disclaimer you will see in this fic, so if you decide to review me saying that I didn't give credit to the real person that came up with Beyblade (Aoki Takao) I will calmly tell you to go screw yourself. That is all.

Fanfiction Disclaimer: Chaya is my own creation, as is Haley, Jennifer, Claire and anyone else that you don't recognize. Miyami belongs to Mags, my best friend. Aurelia Delk belongs to Band-Freak aka Lobo-Chan. Flash Jameson and Iris Messana are inspired by my real life friends, Flash and Iz. Just to clarify that…

Rating: R for language, mature themes and mature humor

Pairing: Figure it out.

Takes-Place: Alternate Universe

Summary: When you live in small town, where everything and everyone is the same, what are you supposed to do? Why, wreak whatever hell you can, of course

**

* * *

Chapter Thirty-Eight: Soda Toss**

Chaya could only stare at the old man, her brain practically stopping its primary function as his words sunk in. All around, the rest of her class seemed frozen as well, glancing between her and Mr. Turner.

"What do you mean, _wrong_?" she demanded, narrowing her eyes.

"I mean your answer lacked truth," Turner deadpanned, leaning back in his chair. "The War of 1812 was _not_ won by Canada. It was a stalemate between the United States and British North America, although it did end in further establishing the American independence."

"You say," Chaya snorted, "I figure any army that marches in, gets to Washington and burns down the White House has to gain a bit of headway over us. You want to go into technicalities, fine, it was a stalemate. But considering every victory the United States has ever had is defined as completely beating another country and taking their land, because they didn't take Canada while the British managed to make considerable headway, despite their various defeats in battle."

"History is not opinions, Miss Mizuhara," Mr. Turner sighed. "The sooner you realize that, the sooner you might start passing my class."

"History is _only_ opinions! Ones that have been around so long that they've become facts!" she argued. "And I'm not passing your class because you're too stubborn to admit that one of your students might actually know as much as you about history!"

"You are failing this class because you lack the ability to shut up – now shut up and allow me to continue teaching!"

"Infringement on my rights!" Chaya yelled accusatorially. "Help, I'm being repressed!"

"Be quiet, Miss Mizuhara, and if you're going to complain, don't complain using the words directly out of Monty Python," Turner sighed, allowing his head to fall into his hands.

The bell rang, signifying the beginning of lunch.

The entire class was immediately up and hurrying out of the class.

"Read chapter thirteen on real politics and Bismarck!" Mr. Turner called over the din. "There will be a quiz on it next class, and – " he seemed to realize that no one was listening to him. "Oh never mind, you'll find out then and curse me abominably loud…"

Chaya laughed to herself and began to put her books together; at some point, she was sure that Turner would get youthful high spirits. Of course, she doubted that it would be today…

"So, babes, nice to have you back," Miyami's voice interrupted from out of nowhere as her friend plopped down at another desk to watch her tidy her things. As usual, they were waiting for the majority of students to disappear from the hallways in order to get to the cafeteria without problems. "I think that was the most Chaya-esque argument you've had with Turner since before your birthday – speaking of the blessed occasion, how's the little monster?"

"Mercy?" Chaya asked with a smirk. "She's actually doing amazing. They've got her off of the oscillator and she's in a conventional vent now – which means we actually get to hold her!"

Miyami cheered. "Wicked! So have you held her yet?"

Chaya frowned. "No, Mom's paranoid and said not until she's a little stronger. I guess I get it, but it's not fair anyway."

"Teenager prerogative to be annoyed parents, check," Miyami nodded as the class was finally emptied. "And how's everything at home – you and Max talking yet?"

"Mmm, no," Chaya murmured with a wistful sigh. "But he's stopped ignoring me and sometimes laughs at my jokes and he gave me a hug yesterday."

"I guess that's an improvement, right?" Miyami suggested.

"Well, duh," she replied, "ever since collectively beating the crap out of Ivanov, things have been looking up. The law-suit came through – the guy has to pay my mom and dad damages, so they decided they want to sell the hobby shop and my dad wants to go back to school. We're moving in a few weeks."

Miyami raised their eyebrow as they turned into the hallway. "That fast?"

Chaya rolled her eyes. "You know my family, they get ideas in their head and _woosh_, they run with it."

"But if you move away from the shop, what are you gonna do? Your Mom's off on maternity leave and your dad wouldn't have work, right?" Miyami asked.

"He's working in sales for a family friend right now," Chaya explained. "They own a mechanics shop downtown, so he's having fun an even promised to try to get me a discount on a car once my grounding sentence winds down."

"When's that again?"

"When I'm eighty."

"Ouch."

"Yup."

Out of nowhere, a hand flew in front of Chaya, effectively stopping her in her tracks and nearly pushing Miyami to the floor. Moments away from blasting the person for their clumsiness, she opened her mouth angrily – and then shut it again when she realized who it was.

"Oh no, not you again," she groaned when she recognized Ivanov's face.

The other teen had an unlit cigarette held between his lips, despite school rules, and was wearing mirrored aviators, probably a measure to hide the heavy bruising on his face since the major fight less than a month earlier. Like Chaya's massive shiner on her face, Ivanov's most likely hadn't completely healed and had most probably graduated to the sickening yellow color of healing bruises. "Listen, I don't need Max here to beat the crap out of you again, so if you _really_ want to get into this again – "

He ignored her, glaring down at Miyami from behind the glasses. "You. Leave."

Miyami raised a pierced eyebrow, insolence glinting in her eyes. "Dude, I don't know who the hell you think you are, but you should still know that that kind of talk ain't gonna get me to go anywhere. Buzz off."

Ivanov didn't move, neither to acquiesce nor to stop glaring. After a full minute of silent glowering, Chaya sighed and turned to her friend. "It's okay, I can handle this asshole, 'Yami. Can you go grab a seat for us?"

"Yeah," Miyami nodded, not taking her eyes from the senior. "No probs – if he tries anything holler, we'll be on stand-by." She began to walk by and then out of nowhere swung a clean right hook at Ivanov. When he didn't flinch, she snorted and continued walking.

As soon as Miyami had disappeared around the corner, Chaya turned to Ivanov expectantly. "Well?"

"I hate you," he told her bluntly. "Violently."

She made a face. "Right, I think we've established that."

"I will go out of my way for as long as I know you are around to make your life miserable," he growled, looming over her the way most tall people tended to extort their height at her. Somehow, though, this time it really didn't bother her. "But for some reason that I can't get, my best friend is obsessed with you – to the point that he's not the same person anymore. Even Taryn's beginning to notice and wanted to know what the hell his problem is. She figured I'd know."

"Oh-kay," she nodded, waiting expectantly.

"So I've got one question."

"Shoot."

"What the fuck are you waiting for?"

Chaya gaped. "Excuse me?"

"You fed me a whole load of bullshit about caring about him and in the last month you've done shit all to get him back."

"Maybe the fact that every time I get within ten feet of him he takes off as though I'm armed with napalm might be a little bit of a discouragement," she hissed. "He's been a complete asshole to me for ages now and no matter what I do he ignores me. Kai's not like my brother who has to care about me unconditionally – obviously I made a complete ass of both of us and he feels we're done."

"So you're just going to give up?" Ivanov asked, taking off his glasses and staring at her through piercing blue eyes. She barely noticed the yellowing contusions.

"I don't know – I've never really had to deal with something like this, so I'm kind of making it up as I go – what the hell do you want me to do, bash him up against a wall and yell it out to him?!"

"Yes!"

Chaya froze, staring at Ivanov in complete shock. "E-excuse me?"

"You spent the entire time that you knew him beating the crap out of him, bating him, trading insults and being a general pain in the ass – what's stopping you from doing that now? What the hell do you have to lose?" Ivanov shot back. "At least once you do it and find out he doesn't like you, we can both go back to our own lives – I can hate you in peace and you can hang out with your screwed up friends. And eventually Kai will get you out of his system."

She crossed her arms, glaring at him. "You seem pretty sure that that's what's going to happen. You said he was obsessing over me – doesn't that usually mean that he still likes me?"

"I like to think he's just regretting the fact that he didn't get to blow you off," Ivanov shrugged. "But we won't know until you find out for us, will we? You and I both know Kai can be chicken shit."

"Aren't you a great friend," she retorted sarcastically. "Is there are reason you're doing this?"

"For my own personal gain," he told her simply, turning to leave. "I'm getting sick and tired of this pussy-footing around. So if you don't mind, go chew him out so that he can go back to dating the usual worthless girls he fooled around with _before_ you."

"Asshole!" she yelled after him as he too disappeared from the hallway, which was now chillingly empty. There wasn't even the sound of teachers that might still be explaining last minute equations to their students that might mar the silence.

The nerve of that jerk! Here he was, incapable of seeing what was wrong with his 'so-called' best friend and demanded that she do it, as though it was the task of some brainless twit that was around just to do his bidding! She was trying to work up enough nerve to talk to Kai and it didn't help to have pressure from the most unlikely of people trying to get her to do it faster.

And the stupid moron had enough gall to compare her to…

Her thoughts trailed off as something suddenly occurred to her which she hadn't noticed before.

'…_if you don't mind, go chew him out so that he can go back to dating the usual worthless girls he fooled around with _before_ you…'_

Worthless. Girls. Before. You.

Those four words reverberated in her brain, a glaring hot iron in her mind, over and over. Why had Ivanov used those words the way he had? The sudden, far-fetched idea that he might have somehow, despite the mutual hatred for one another, finally decided that they were on equal playing field formed in her mind. It was so unbelievable that she almost shook it off.

But something inside her told her that was exactly what it was.

And she was suddenly walking, dropping her schoolbag to the ground somewhere in the hall and trekking towards the cafeteria, where she knew everyone was going to be, and knew that it would be another scene and that she was going to be in trouble again by the end of the day, but somehow this knowledge paled in comparison to the fact that she knew that she had earned Tala Ivanov's respect – it was a feat that although unimportant to her relationship to Kai, meant something strange that even she didn't know. Somehow, some way, it was a good sign.

The cafeteria doors made an explosive bang against the wall as she practically threw herself into the room; seeing Miyami gesture of her from the table across the room, she nodded and held up her hand to ask her to hold on, while she marched across to where Kai and his friends usually sat.

Another unimportant generic teen sat across form Kai, smiling the usual bullshit smile that begged for attention and sloppy-make-outs. She couldn't see his face, but the slightest thought that he might be smiling back at this no-name made her blood boil. Sitting nearby, conversing in undertones with, or rather, to the silent Brian Kuznetsov, Ivanov watched her approach without doing anything.

She supposed it was his small gift to her, rather than tipping off Kai to make another quick exit.

She was standing directly behind him when the generic girl noticed her, thus tipping off the slate-haired teen to her presence. He continued to ignore her. Narrowing her eyes, she reached towards him, intent that if he didn't notice her she would _make_ him.

He didn't move or turn to acknowledge her beyond the low, "Go away."

"Not until you listen to me."

He shrugged noncommittally and went back to flirting with the girl.

"I'm sorry," she said simply, her voice almost carried away by the clamour of the thousand other students that frequented the school. "I doubt that redheaded jerk over there ever told you or if you ever bothered to find out, but there was a good reason why I didn't have time to talk to you. Even when I did, you wouldn't listen to me, so how can you blame me for not talking to you when you were being an ass and not letting me?!"

He still didn't reply, whispering something to the girl that made her laugh. Chaya felt her cheeks heat up in anger and a strange, burning prickle behind her eyes.

"I was a moron, but it wasn't as though you ever made it clear that you thought were anything more than involved."

Still no reply, a trigger that finally snapped. For an entire month and a half she had tried to talk to him and he had ignored her; if Kai was as effected by her as Ivanov might have suggested, maybe he would have at least tried. She glared at Ivanov, the suspicion that his entire spiel to her was just an act to make a fool out of her springing up from the depths of her mind.

Eyes burning heatedly, she reached down in one fluid movement and grabbed the full pitcher of water from next to him, dunking it over Kai's head within seconds. "Listen to me, you asshole!"

Without remorse, she stared down at the now drenched form of Kai Hiwatari; his shoulders tensed in reflex to the cold that had fallen over her, she could practically feel the wrath radiating from his form. The nameless girl stared in shock at what had just transpired while the entire cafeteria was suddenly silent.

Before she could count the seconds, he was up and turned on her, eyes burning with the most intense dislike towards her that she had ever seen. Despite the look being sent her way, she didn't feel as afraid as any normal person might under the scrutiny of such hate filled eyes. Instead she only felt the dull ache of hurt in her chest that she couldn't name.

"Do you not understand English, Mizuhara, or should I just spell it out for you?" he hissed, spitting out torrents of water that had invaded his mouth.

She crossed her arms at him. "That would require you to know how to spell, wouldn't it, Hiwatari? Something your insignificant brain just can't comprehend. A little bit like dating, huh?"

"You wouldn't know anything about that kind of thing," he replied just as icily, shaking his hair off cruelly in a way that smattered her face with water drops. She ignored them, focussing her angry stare on him instead. "If you think you're going to treat me like shit again – I don't give a damn about your sob stories either – I don't make the same mistakes twice."

"Oh yeah? If you didn't care, why would you have bothered turning around to tell me that?" she demanded, incensed at being called a mistake. "Obviously you care very much or you would have gone back to the way things were before you got the sick and stupid idea to fall for me."

He raised his eyebrows, and a bitter, disdainful smirk appeared on his face. "Oh, 'fell for you'? Is that what you're calling it? You're getting a little bit vain there, Mizuhara, to think I ever did anything stupid like that. I'm not a drip like Kon is, who acts like your little dog even though you dumped his ass – in fact, if yo want to get into that, who did you dump Kon for, huh?" She glared at him. "That's what I thought. Besides, why would I fall for someone like you? Aside from being a condescending, snotty little frigid bitch that uses people whenever she needs them, what is it that you do?"

"You're right, okay?" she snapped.

Kai opened his mouth as though to say something to that and then paused, staring at her. "What?"

"I am a horrible person and when you asked me out I didn't think you were serious – I mean, how could I have when for the past two years we've been fighting like crazy?! I figured, sure, there was something there but I never thought it would reach beyond that! But it did! And when I tried to talk to you, to apologize, you treated me like the fucking plague!"

"It's not all about you!"

"I never said it was!"

"Well it's too late, I could care less what you said or didn't say," he turned to sit back down, but she grabbed him and held his arm in a vice-grip.

"What I did was wrong and stupid and immature, I get it, I admit it, are we past this? Could the world stop shitting on me because I was childish? At least I can admit it – you, you're the ass right now, because you didn't do anything to see if there _was_ something going on!" He jerked out of her grip. "Apparently I'm not the only one who has to learn something – I bet you've never been part of something that wasn't over by the next day, huh?"

"That's _my_ business – "

"Well it's mine too," Chaya shouted. "Did you even bother to call and ask if there was something up? Did you even try to find out? Or did you just act like the stoic hero of a tragedy who thought he got dumped?" She narrowed her eyes even more. "Fuck it, Kai, if I had dumped you, I would have." She straightened up. "Here, look! I'll help you out!" Shouting at the top of her lungs, attracting more stares from the other students, she yelled, "Hey, look everyone! Here I am, formally dumping Kai Hiwatari because he's an inconsiderate ass who thinks all of life is about him!" She faced him again, a triumphant albeit bitter smile on her face. "Okay? Is that good? Is your balance restored, Hiwatari?! There, you're fucking _dumped_! Go get one with your pathetic, self-centered life and stop making me lose sleep over you!"

She whirled around violently, striding so aggressively towards the table she shared with Miyami and everyone that she thought she might split the tiles in half. She wasn't even halfway there when a wet arm grabbed her and forcefully pulled her back, glaring at her nose to nose. She felt the drenched clothing rub against her own, effectively soaking her through the front of her shirt. Swearing, she tried to pull away from him, but he refused to let her go.

Instead he leaned forward, a livid expression on his face and growled, "Would you just tell me what the fuck you want from me?"

"I want you, you jerk!" The look on his face was suddenly devoid of all the anger from before, while he stared at her in shock. She had never said that before, to him or for herself. It was as though her subconscious was intent on her finally coming to the realization, because within a second of saying it, she knew that it was true.

Hardly daring to dwell on her previous words, she plodded forward, looking anywhere but at Kai. "I don't know why – I have no idea what's going on, but inexplicably that's all I want right now is you! Even if you're an ass and I sometimes just want to bask your head into a wall because I'm frustrated…all I want is you."

"And you're not just fucking around about that trying to get me back I suppose," he deadpanned, watching her with unreadable eyes.

She glared and then out of nowhere, reached up and slapped him.

"What the hell?!" he demanded, holding his hand to his face.

She shook the water from her hand and snarled, "I would have thought you, of all people, would understand that I would never fuck around about something like that. And I'm not going to beg you, I won't go that low. I just came here to tell you how I feel and if you're going to be an idiot about it, I don't need to stand here and – "

She was grabbed again and her face was suddenly being held tightly in his hands, so much so that her earrings were digging into his hands. Water droplets ran down her face from the drenched teen in front of her, who was gazing at her with a complete lack of understanding. Half of his face was tinged by a red hand-print.

"I'm going to kiss you," he told her silently, making her heart leap. "On the condition that you don't slap me anymore. And then after Clarkson hauls us in for causing yet another disturbance, I'm taking you out for a coffee. Savvy?"

"Fine," she replied with a challenging glare, "but if you ever treat me like this again, I'll dropkick you into a lake and then drag you out just to do it all over again."

"Fine."

And then her lips were taken by his, not even a charged kiss, but one that took her breath away all the same. The silence all of a sudden seemed to warp and there was the sound of catcalls and high pitched whistles, before a deafening shout and applause broke out all around them. Opening her eyes she vaguely noticed the majority of the students clapping and flashing thumbs-up in their direction, something that usually would have annoyed her to no end but really didn't matter. Especially not when the kiss was deepened and she was pulled closer into Kai's arms.

He pulled away, not taking his arms from around her, and she felt his lips brush her ear. "I don't think there are words to describe how pissed at you I am."

She laughed out loud. "I'm almost afraid to see what you'd do if you're happy."

He snorted, nipping her ear. "Wanna find out?"

She rolled her eyes and punched him lightly in the gut. "Pervert."

The sound of doors slamming open and the screech that everyone had been waiting for broke the moment. "MIZUHARA! HIWATARI! MY OFFICE, NOW!!"

"You heard the woman," Chaya grinned. "Let's."

"Oh, but what kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn't patronize you and treat you like an inferior gender?" he asked with a wicked grin that she didn't like.

"Kai – "

"Come on, let's get going," he grunted, swooping down and looping her over his shoulder, just as he had ages ago when he had kidnapped her from her room. At this, cheers erupted from all around as he walked with her towards Clarkson, who Chaya imagined would look like an engorged, rotten tomato. She didn't dwell on it, though, too busy pounding on Kai's shoulders to let her go and being thankful she had opted to wear jeans to school that day instead of a skirt.

Back at the table, she briefly caught Ivanov's eye. After a momentary smirk, he flipped her off. She didn't even have time to return the favour before the doors of the cafeteria slammed shut.

* * *

WOOT!

We were all waiting for that, I'm sure.

There are no more words needed. Just R&R and wait for the next chapters as this fic begins to wind down…

KQ


	39. Blanket Darts

_**Burning in the Sea**_

Author: KuriQuinn

Title: Burning in the Sea

Fandom: Bakuten Shoot Beyblade

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade, never will and have no intention of leading a crusade to try to own them. That's too much money and too much effort. However, I do like to manipulate the characters to do my bidding because it amuses me and countless others. This is the only disclaimer you will see in this fic, so if you decide to review me saying that I didn't give credit to the real person that came up with Beyblade (Aoki Takao) I will calmly tell you to go screw yourself. That is all.

Fanfiction Disclaimer: Chaya is my own creation, as is Haley, Jennifer, Claire and anyone else that you don't recognize. Miyami belongs to Mags, my best friend. Aurelia Delk belongs to Band-Freak aka Lobo-Chan. Flash Jameson and Iris Messana are inspired by my real life friends, Flash and Iz. Just to clarify that…

Rating: R for language, mature themes and mature humor

Pairing: Figure it out.

Takes-Place: Alternate Universe

Summary: When you live in small town, where everything and everyone is the same, what are you supposed to do? Why, wreak whatever hell you can, of course

**This chapter is for Iz and Flash, who have been waiting longer than everyone for me to update. Trust me, guys, it's worse for them because I bounce my ideas of them and then they have to wait an eternity long before they actually know what I'll put in here... **

* * *

**Chapter Thirty-Nine: Blanket Darts**

They had been going out for little less than a month.

Of course, "going out" was a rather abstract way of looking at things, considering how practically every day there was an explosive argument almost bordering on physical that had the two of them swearing never to bother with one another ever again – yet by the end of the day they were in each other's arms, slyly arguing over nonsense.

Miyami called them a walking cliché, to which Chaya replied people who used the word cliché were just jealous that they weren't in on the fact.

Kai would merely grunt in reply, as per usual.

Their relationship didn't mean that suddenly everyone was a huge, happy-go-lucky free-care-bears-and-candy group. In fact, the majority of arguments had to do with their friends.

Chaya had already publicly, privately and everything in between called out Ivanov, Kuznetsov and any other play-boy ass that Kai liked to call his friends – even going so far as the make Kai part of her endless pranks on them. No one was soon to forget the spaghetti incident which saw Kai dump her butt-first into one of the janitor's over-sized garbage bins in revenge.

On the other hand, Chaya had grudgingly protected the smart-ass senior when he had called her friends a bunch of nympho queers (of course she had beaten him upside the head about it on her way home from school, but that was another story). Kai's staunchly conservative views were a constant clash point with Chaya's uber-liberal beliefs.

The entire bond between the two was a mystery to anyone who didn't understand it, considering the face value of what they were. Neither did their closest friends in most instances – case points being Tala and Iris, who still stubbornly insisted that Kai was an asshole and that Chaya dating him would not change that.

"Well duh," Chaya had rolled her eyes, "I never said I was going to try to change him. I like him the way he is – even if he is a conformist, unadventurous, deceitful prick who is _this_ close to being emo if he only had the piercings and the greased up hair…"

In the month since they had finally and rather violently gotten together (a scene that would go down next to the Milk incident from her first year), and although exceedingly pleased with herself about having more-or-less fixed up her problems both at home and at school, Chaya was almost way too preoccupied with her family's move from the apartment above the hobby-shop.

Their new house was much larger and with the exception of the basement, which had a little bit of water damage, less shabby than the old one. For one thing, Chaya and Max immediately had their own rooms which connected to a bathroom, for another, what would become Mercy's room was located almost exclusively next to their parents room, which would mean neither of them would be disturbed by a crying baby in the middle of the night.

Although the house was almost a ten minute walk from their old one, it was further away from school which made Chaya angry in view of the fact she now had to wake up much earlier just to make it on time. Facing the wrath of Clarkson, who since she and Kai had made with the sloppy-kisses in the cafeteria was out to get both of them equally as bad, was not on the list of high priorities for the energetic blond at the moment.

Her grounding had gradually subsided, disappearing almost completely were it not for every now and then her father remembering that she was supposed to being punished and banning her from the computer or going out with her friends, but she endured these instances with a grain of salt. She knew her mother and father had their hands full with Mercy right now, who was making a full recovery and whose development begged the question of when she would be brought home.

Chaya was already completely enamoured in her little sister – her mother had finally allowed her to hold the infant days earlier, an event which had the girl giddy and bright eyed for the better part of the week. Kai had actually asked her if she was on any medication.

The following Thursday, which just happened to fall on the first of April, found Chaya walking down the hallway, alone for once, a wide smile on her face. Anyone who knew her intimately knew, of course, that this was a sign of imminent danger and possibly the sign of something being set on fire a distance away. Of course when not aware of that type of presence, one gets in a whole heap of trouble.

On her way, she caught sight of Flash, who was once again, with his new group of friends. The jocks didn't actually seem to be including him or ostracizing him – in fact, he seemed to be causing quite a few people to laugh. But there was something about the way everyone was standing that suggested he was still on the outside of everything.

It occurred suddenly to Chaya that she hadn't actually exchanged many words with the blond boy since…wow, since when, she wondered with a frown, her good humour disappearing suddenly. About the time when everyone had been angry at her. But everyone had already forgiven her, or at least attempted – but Flash had not been among them.

A cold, creeping thought suddenly occurred to her.

Could Flash still be angry with her about that? She had never known him to hold a grudge – in fact, he had always been one of the fasted to forgive most indiscretions. There was a hard feeling in the pit of her stomach as she thought of this, and her immediate instinct was to walk over to the blond boy and demand what was going on.

Of course that was when she remembered the last time she had marched up to someone to demand what was going on without at least some plan or idea of what was going on, she had lost the majority of her friends and her brother. And by the time she realized this, she noticed that the jocks, along with Flash, had disappeared.

"Crap," she grumbled. It appeared that she would have to revisit this issue later. Maybe Miyami or Iris had an idea as to what was going on.

Of course upon turning the corner, her worries over Flash were put out of her mind as her first task for the day presented itself to her down the corridor

It was here that she found Kai, loitering in the hallway with his usual cronies, his back to her and completely oblivious to her being there. Ivanov saw her and, as usual, pretended that he and she were on completely separate plains and therefore had no business communicating. She rather liked this arrangement and never sought to change it.

Arranging her face gravely, in fact going so far as to appear stricken with grief, she tapped the usually stoic boy on the shoulder, alerting him to her presence. He turned around languidly, bored until he noticed who it was, his eyes alighting with a look she knew all to well.

In response, she focussed harder on keeping her face serious. His smirk disappeared a second later, a glint of worry in his eyes when he noticed her face. "What's with you?"

"There's something I have to tell you," she said, manufacturing a tight, nervous voice, complete with shifty eyes and twiddling her thumbs.

Kai raised an eyebrow, glancing at his friends who were still pretending viciously to not be interested in what was going on but who, everyone knew, were listening intently to the latest in the life of Kai and Chaya.

She inhaled deeply, swallowing a few times and allowing her eyes to fill with tears a little. "I'm…I'm pregnant."

Kai stared, looking like he had been turned to stone, his friends all stopping talking as they heard. It only lasted a second, just as she knew it would, before he narrowed his eyes at her. "Yeah, that's real funny. You'd actually have to let me touch you before you even entertained that thought."

It was a struggle to keep from laughing, but she bit out, "I never said by you."

Now Kai froze again, looking a little more stricken than before.

She couldn't even hold it out long enough to squeak 'April Fool!' at him before she was laughing loudly, actual tears running down her cheeks. His expression would forever be imprinted in her mind – the uncertain, traumatized glint that only a male who was hearing his girlfriend announcing her pregnancy might manage.

"You suck at this," he informed her, stung that she was having such a good laugh at his expense. "Besides, even if you were, why would you come to me?"

"Well, you know," she shrugged, recovering and straightening up, "In this hypothetical situation, I'd expect you to support me if anything like that ever happens. Just so you know and if anything does happen and you leave me, I'll hunt you down, castrate you and feed you to the wolves."

"I'm glad it's a hypothetical castration we're talking about then," he shrugged. He yawned and worked out the kinks in his back, "Anyhow, I have to get going – class and all. And I have a date tonight."

"No you don't," she frowned, "I already told you that I can't go out tonight. We're going to the hospital and – "

He smirked. "I never said with you."

The voice died in her throat, and she stopped talking, "Huh – ? Wait! You're just trying to fool me! Well it's not going to work!"

Kai shrugged at her, apparently not really caring that her anger level was steadily rising. "Whatever helps you sleep at night, Mizuhara. One sec – " he glanced away, over her head with ease and called out, " – hey, Fiona! Are we still on for tonight?"

Chaya whirled around, gaping when a very pretty junior with chestnut hair and green eyes a few yards away looked up in surprise, and then blushed scarlet, nodding at Kai.

He exhaled, seemingly satisfied with himself, and leaned back against his locker. Apparently he was enjoying her expression, all too much, she decided when he showed no signs of adding 'April Fool' to his words. Anger and hurt – but mostly anger – bubble up in her heart. She wasn't even able to come up with a comprehensible sentence, so angry was she.

Finally, she settled on snarling angrily and stomping on his foot with her steel toed boots, before angrily stalking off. She ignored his loud curses, also mixed with pleas to come back, intent on finding someone to talk to who would comfort her slightly.

(-)

"…and that's when I tried to break his foot and left," Chaya ranted, hitting her head softly against the locker as she stood next to Miyami. Her friend was poking through her locker and for the past fifteen minutes had been grunting and laughing in all the proper places of Chaya's tale. "Why I even put up with this jerk – I swear, this is it. The other times he was just insulting and mean, but I can handle insulting and mean. Come on, verbal sparring is a second language to me – but cheating on me and not even hiding it? My god, 'Yami, I was so angry I couldn't even talk. But the next time I see him, I swear, I have a few choice words for him!"

Miyami glanced up, a chocolate bar in her mouth as she pawed through her bag in search of the day's homework.. "So…'ou gahs bwoke uh again?"

"No more again after this," the blond girl vowed, still seething. "I'm swearing off men forever."

Her friend finished chewing and sighed, sending Chaya a glance filled with speculation. "Just so you know, this on-off dating thing is getting really, _really _annoying. It confuses everyone!"

Chaya shrugged. "Last I checked, I don't really care much about other people."

"I thought you were working on that."

"Rome wasn't built in a day."

"What does Rome have to do with being nice to other people?"

"Well, you know, the Romans conquered people and were jerks and through them to the lions whenever they didn't like them," Chaya commented with a shrug of the shoulders.

Miyami stared.

"You make absolutely no sense sometimes, you do know this right?" she pointed out, tossing her hair indignantly.

"It's why you love me," Chaya batted her long lashes.

"Ya huh," Miyami rolled her eyes. "For no other reason, other than your insanity, am I your friend."

"Damn straight," she laughed. After a second she paused, a thought occurring to her as she remembered her experience from earlier. "Hey, just a question – but is Flash angry with me?"

"Huh?" Miyami's entire body tensed, turning to stare at Chaya. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, I think he's been avoiding me since _the incident_ and I'm trying to figure out why," Chaya mused, sliding down the locker and frowning at the floor. "I mean, as far as I know, I didn't do anything to him and I thought he was just being like you guys, and that was justified. But now I think it's something else."

"Oh."

The tone of her friend's voice was odd and when Chaya glanced at her, she realized that Miyami was no longer looking at her. Suspicious act number one. "Miyami, what's going on?"

"Huh?"

"You know something!" Chaya accused. "Tell me!"

"Hey, I don't know anything," Miyami shot back in a tone that was far from convincing. "If you think there's something up, you go ask him yourself. I am not going to get into shit because I tell you something."

"Than you do know something!"

Miyami's mouth opened and closed, and she groaned, looking furious with herself. "Shit."

Curiosity peeked, Chaya jumped up, rounding on her friend. "You do know! Tell me! Tell me what's going on!"

"No, go ask yourself!"

"You're my best friend, you have to tell me!"

"No I don't – and that's not an excuse!"

"Is too – tell me!"

"Is not – I won't!"

"Come on, just tell me _something_."

"I'm dating Johnny."

Chaya snorted, laughing out loud. "Oh, right, yeah, nice change of subject. I really believe – " she noticed her friend's expression, " – whoa, you're serious aren't you?"

Miyami nodded, a pink tinge on her face.

Chaya stared, and then frowned. She jutted her index finger out at Miyami. "Just so you know, this is not making me forget about the Flash thing. I will come back to it – but right now, you tell me details. Why didn't I notice this?"

"Because you were too busy with the soap opera of your life and Kai to notice," Miyami told her pointedly, "and I figured hey, I get to keep him to myself without teasing for a little while."

Chaya raised an eyebrow. "Am I guessing no one else knows?"

"Not yet – hell, it only happened last week," the silver haired girl told her seriously. "We wanted to tell everyone at the same time, kinda prepare them – I mean, we were thinking about it for a while but we never did anything because we thought – what if we break up, then we break up our friends, and there's all the awkwardness, and – "

"You're babbling," Chaya informed her.

"Right. Sorry – anyhow, so we were trying not to let anything happen and then last week I was walking home from band practice and some guy was following me in his car, telling me to get in, that we'd go have fun – and I couldn't get rid of this creep, right? He actually stopped the car and was going to get out and come get me. I thought I was in trouble – and so, Johnny, out of nowhere, shows up, tells the guy to fuck off or we'll call the cops – but not before he beats the crap out of him for even trying to come near me. So the jerk leaves, and Johnny – who was actually being serious by this time – says he's going to walk me home and won't take no for an answer. So we get home and right before he gets ready, he all of a sudden leans in and kisses me."

Chaya was speechless.

Were they still talking about Johnny? The insane, completely off the wall loony who could be a complete clown? And what Miyami was telling her sounded almost…romantic.

" – and then of course, Keith and Alec look out the windows, notice us and throw a pail of water down on us," Miyami finished suddenly with a laugh. "We had no choice but to go inside, and Johnny got the third degree from my brothers and dad. And Kamryn – I think she the worst one. It was a wonder Johnny could even walk after that one."

Chaya laughed loudly. "Wow. By comparison, my week was really boring. All I got was an – "

"Idiot!"

Both girls jumped when they realized that Kai had suddenly reappeared, looking down at Chaya with a surly expression and tensed as though he was expecting an attack. Chaya's amused demeanour disappeared as she regarded the boy who had made her two years at Bethany High less than dull. He was glaring at her.

"You do know that what I said was a joke, right?"

"Liar – that girl knew what you were talking about," Chaya sniffed, turning away.

He pulled her around again to face him, hunching over so their eyes were level. "I'm tutoring her in science. As in getting paid. As in it was either that or Saturday detentions for the next month from Clarkson."

She feigned a glare. "So – tutoring, especially with a girl that pretty, usually turns into something more."

"Are you on this kick again?" he demanded, face red with anger. "I never pegged you for the jealous type, and here you are – "

"April Fool."

Kai stopped talking, then adding, "What?"

She smiled at him, beaming. "I said April Fool."

Now Kai was the one who was at a loss.

"I knew you were tutoring – you told me last week, really offhand," she told him simply, laughing lightly. Beside her, Miyami was chuckling as well now that she too knew what was going on, " – but I knew you didn't remember telling me and that you'd think I was freaking if I acted like I thought it was something else." Toying with her hair coyly, she repeated his own words back at him. "You suck at this."

He growled, reaching forward as though would strangle her. "You mean you stepped on my foot just for the sake of a joke?"

"Hm…looks that way, yeah," she grinned at him evilly. "Gee, Kai, you get in such a bad mood over the strangest things."

"You have no right to say that!" he accused, a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth despite the obvious anger in his voice. She merely blinked innocently. "I'm going to kill – "

Kai never finished the sentence, because just then, there was a terrified shriek that began down the hall and gradually increased in volume.

"Rats!"

"Oh my god, they're everywhere!"

"MY OFFICE!" Clarkson was running through the hallway, pushing past confused and then terrified students, a hoard of rats at her feet as she sped past them. Behind her, left and right students yelled and screamed in surprise and fear as the little rodents sped past them. A good few jumped up on garbage cans and the odd table or chair to escape the squeaking creatures.

"What the hell?!" Miyami yelled in shock, in the nick of time jumping up with Chaya and Kai onto the window sill nearby as the vermin hurried past, following everyone who moved. "What's going on!?"

Chaya and Kai exchanged knowing smirks. He actually laughed rather unpleasantly, pushing back a stray hair from her face as he leaned over to her, "You are pure evil, you know? And trust me, I know evil when I see it."

Chaya laughed. "You do have a point."

"You two did this?!" Miyami cried, gaping at them.

Neither of them noticed her as Kai leaned over to kiss Chaya.

The silver haired girl glared at the two, pulling her feet up as far as possible lest they touch the disgusting animals. "Yeah, that's right, you two just go have a nice make-out while I go into conniptions. Don't mind me freaking out here just because hundreds of rats – which, you know, could be carrying the plague or something – are running past me. How did you even manage this, anyhow? Did you go searching for rats on the internet, or did you just hunt them in the sewers." She groaned furiously. "This is so gross."

Chaya pulled away from the senior for a moment, rolling her eyes. "Miyami…just shut up, okay? You're ruining the moment."

Her best friend glowered. "Any moment that includes rats is not a moment! It's not even an instant or a fleeting second – it's gross and you two are crazy for doing this! Why would you do this? This is so…so…not cool!"

This time they both turned to her, amused.

"April Fool."

* * *

Well, there we go – some mad writing humour. It probably has spelling mistakes and grammar mistakes galore, but I've long since stopped caring about the gram/spel of this fic. It's just the action we all want, right?

Either way, I had fun with this chapter, and that's all that matters.

R & R,

Hopefully updating soon,

Kuriness


	40. Lobster Bondage

_**Burning in the Sea**_

Author: KuriQuinn

Title: Burning in the Sea

Fandom: Bakuten Shoot Beyblade

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade, never will and have no intention of leading a crusade to try to own them. That's too much money and too much effort. However, I do like to manipulate the characters to do my bidding because it amuses me and countless others. This is the only disclaimer you will see in this fic, so if you decide to review me saying that I didn't give credit to the real person that came up with Beyblade (Aoki Takao) I will calmly tell you to go screw yourself. That is all.

Fanfiction Disclaimer: Chaya is my own creation, as is Haley, Jennifer, Claire and anyone else that you don't recognize. Miyami belongs to Mags, my best friend. Aurelia Delk belongs to Band-Freak aka Lobo-Chan. Flash Jameson and Iris Messana are inspired by my real life friends, Flash and Iz. Just to clarify that…

Rating: R for language, mature themes and mature humor

Pairing: Figure it out.

Takes-Place: Alternate Universe

Summary: When you live in small town, where everything and everyone is the same, what are you supposed to do? Why, wreak whatever hell you can, of course

ARN: Sorry for the wait. This story line is courtesy of the real life Flash who gave me the idea for it. She's been after me to finish this saga for months now, and I've finally had the time, lol.

* * *

**Chapter Forty: Lobster Bondage**

Johnny was half-way through a loud and off-key rendition of the Star Spangled Banner before Miyami groaned, and tried to swat him away. "Johnny, shut up! You're drunk!"

He grinned down at her. "You're cute."

She raised a hand, looking as though she was about to say something and then stopped. "Can't argue with that logic," she finally said, and settled back into his lap.

"So you still haven't told us how you guys did it," Johnny commented as he leaned against the balcony railing; in one hand he held a beer while his other one was busy playing with Miyami's hair. His girlfriend was lying with her head in her lap, the headphones to her mp3 player dangling casually across her shoulders. Chaya couldn't help smirking at the picture they made.

The group of them – Chaya, Miyami, Johnny, Ray and Iris – were sitting out on the balcony of Miyami's house, the same way they had spent the evenings since the weather started to get warmer again. April had brought the temperature up to nearly twenty-degrees, which prophesized a rather warm summer ahead. School had been out for almost a week while animal control was called to get rid of the rats; by some miracle neither Chaya nor Kai could be proven to be the culprits, and so had only earned knowing glares from Clarkson whenever they had the misfortune of running into her in town…which happened a lot in such a small area.

"Actually, funny thing is, I barely had anything to do with it," Chaya shrugged. "It was all Taryn's thing. Something to do with PETA and liberating the little rodents from a lab downtown. Kai thought it would be interesting to bring them to school, and you know, April Fools – I couldn't resist."

"You rarely can," Iris smirked. "Speaking of the Uber-Goth – I haven't seen Taryn around much lately. How's she taking the whole you dating her brother thing?"

A queer expression passed over Chaya's face in remembrance and she finally managed a short, "We had words."

"What do you mean?" Now Miyami was interested to, or must have been, as she wasn't even complaining that Johnny had stopped playing with her hair.

Chaya weighed her options, wondering how much to divulge, and then decided on, "Just the usual threats. You know the type – 'If you break his heart, I'll break your legs', 'You better known what you're getting into'… 'A pox be on both your houses'…that kind of stuff."

Her friends laughed at her and she smirked, lying back on the warm stone and squinting up into the pink sky. It would be dark soon and her parents would be freaking out that she wasn't home. School started again the next day, which she wasn't exactly thrilled with. She'd spent the week out of school mostly with her friends and occasionally with Kai, but they'd gotten into another fight and hadn't spoken to each other for three days now. Honestly, she couldn't remember what it had been about and nor did she care; they'd probably wrestle out the problem the next time they met, but for now she was just content with hanging around with her friends. She hadn't had that chance for a long time now.

Across from her Iris was fighting with Ray over his CD player, grinning at him in a way that said 'you're not getting it so stop trying'. If Iris hadn't told her flat out that she wasn't interested in Ray and Ray wasn't back to dating Mariah rather happily, Chaya might have teased them. But she knew better than anyone that they were just good friends.

Not as good as Iris had been with Flash, though, Chaya frowned.

The enigma of the blond boy has been bothering Chaya for a while now; it was clear now that he was avoiding only her and despite trying to trick Miyami into saying something, her best friend wouldn't budge. It was annoying, to tell the truth, but expected.

"Penny for your thoughts, Chays?"

"Yeah, and they're only worth that…"

"Shut up, Johnny," Chaya snorted, sitting up and considering her group. "I was just thinking."

"Must have hurt. The expression on your face isn't exactly blissful."

"Just wondering where Flash has been lately."

"Oh, well, you know, he's with his other friends," Ray managed, completely failing at speaking off-handedly. Chaya rolled her eyes, but decided to go with it. It was obvious that everyone shared Miyami's patented view of not-telling-ness.

"I wasn't aware he hung around with anyone but us," she pressed, pretending not to notice the way the atmosphere suddenly seemed to drop to a tenser volume. "Especially not with a bunch of stupid jocks."

"Isn't your brother a jock?" Iris smirked, letting her head fall into her hands as she pinpointed Chaya with an amused glance.

"Yeah, but that's because his brain cells are fried."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Oh, didn't you know? There's a link between burning brain cells and football. It was in the paper today."

"Ya huh."

"Seriously though – what gives?" Chaya yawned, shifting so that she was lying on her side, considering her friends with a challenging glance. "I don't think I've exchanged more than an awkward 'sorry I spilled my Iced Tea in your hair' with him in months. Any ideas on that, or are you guys just not going to tell me."

"Hm, that sounds like a good idea," Miyami ponder. When Chaya groaned she held up her hands as though the matter was none of her concern, nearly smacking Johnny in the nose at the same time. "Hey, don't give me that babes, I already told you that if you wanted to know you'd have to ask him yourself. Why's it such a big issue for you anyhow, it's not like you're shy."

"I'm not, I just…it's awkward talking to someone who is very obviously avoiding you," the blond grumbled, a pout on her face.

"You never seemed to be awkward when it was Hiwatari avoiding you," Iris pointed out, earning a glare from Chaya. "What, it's true – in fact, I think that made you go after him even stronger."

"I didn't exactly care if I was hurting his feelings or if I already had back then."

"Either way – why are you avoiding this?"

"I'm not - ! I just, uh, I don't know what I'm supposed to do. Just go to his house, demand why he hates me and hope it all works out? That seems kind of – "

"Completely you?" Ray volunteered.

Chaya opened her mouth to argue with the older teen, and then shut her mouth. They did have a point. It really was exactly the kind of thing she would do, barging into someone's home to demand they talk to her. So why was she so hesitant about it?

"Okay, fine," she said out loud, more for her own benefit than theirs. "I'll see you guys tomorrow then."

"Whoa, whoa, wait – now?" Miyami scrambled off of Johnny's lap to stare at her best friend in a kind of awed surprise.

"Why does this surprise you?" Chaya made a face. "He doesn't live far from here and the sooner I figure out what's going on, the sooner I can work like hell to fix it. Simple as that."

"But life's actually not that simple," Iris pointed out. "Most people don't care if you've decided that things are going to be okay, they have to be okay with it too."

"Then are you going to save me the trip?" Chaya countered, getting up and stretching the kinks out of her back. "Because if you do I won't have to mull over what I'm going to say to him, I can begin mulling over the fixingness."

"No."

"Then I'm going."

Iris blinked at her, and then turned to Ray, gesturing at Chaya with a nod of her head. "Do you believe this?"

He snorted. "In my experience you don't bet against Chaya or you'll get your butt kicked."

"I think it's her that's going to get her butt kicked," Iris grumbled. "But that's just my opinion."

"No one wants your opinion," Chaya laughed, leaning down to hug Miyami and poke at Johnny's messy hair. "I'll see you guys tomorrow."

(-)

She actually really had no idea what she was supposed to do when she got to Flash's house. If she had any inkling about what she might have done to make him angry or avoidant of her, it might have helped, but with everyone keeping mum she felt like someone walking into a bomb-field without any cover fire.

Upon arriving at his house, she stopped completely for a few moments to collect her thoughts and try to come up with a plan of action. Flash lived in a small duplex at the corner of the street. She'd only ever been there once before to discuss a school project and the group of them had spent more time hanging upside down on the jungle-gym at the park that day than actually sitting in his house doing their homework, so her impression of the place was not so memorable. She'd had to leave relatively early too, as she recalled. Judy had been having one of her meltdowns.

Shaking her head as though to clear it, she hurried up the walkway and steps to the house and before the bravery left her, forcibly rang the doorbell. Now there was no turning back.

Okay, there could be turning back, but she wasn't a coward enough to run away after ringing the doorbell.

Or was she?

She didn't find out, because a moment later the door opened and a familiar looking blond head poked out.

"Hey Fla – " she cut off immediately, frowning. "Flash?"

Maybe he was in another one of his thespian moods and dressing up, but the specimen in the door was definitely not the same Flash she had been seeing over the past week. He wore a fedora and black t-shirt over a white wife-beater and pinstripe pants, a rather smart looking goatee trimmed at the base of his chin and a pair of tinted sunglasses hanging at the tip of his nose.

He blinked at her for a moment and then smirked. "Wrong. You must be Chaya." He gave her the once over before saying, "You're shorter than I would have thought. The stories make you out to be some kind of Amazon warrior."

Chaya gaped. "Excuse me?"

There were no limits to her confusion at the moment and Flash-slash-look-alike-beatnik seemed to be enjoying it.

"I've got friends that go to your school. They say you're a handful."

"Wait…what?"

He suddenly dropped the entire joking demeanour and looked seriously at her. "You looking for Michel?"

"Who?"

"Flash?" he tried again, looking at her like she might turn tale and run off, which was exactly what she was considering doing at that precise moment. "Are you okay? If you're going into conniptions, I'd rather you do it outside. Less mess to clean up."

Now she felt even more stupid. She'd completely forgotten that Flash's name was really Michel, just as she'd forgotten that he had a brother. The fact that he was identical was a new piece of information, she realized with annoyance. Flash occasionally talked about Micah, but had never informed her that he was also a twin. Apparently they had more in common than originally thought.

"He doesn't want to talk to you, you know." She waited for a moment, wondering if this meant that Micah was going to play t he overprotective brother card. She had seen the routine a whole bunch of times and if he did play it, it meant she would have to go about getting into the house in a more carefully thought out way.

It seemed, though, that some god was on her side because after a second he said, "He's out on the balcony, follow me."

She grinned, unable to help it. The particular act was so much like something Max would have done to her that she had to. Already, within seconds, she was feeling more comfortable again and not so much at a loss at what she was supposed to be doing ehre.

Micah led her up the stairs of the house which were lined with odd little trinkets and curios and into the main floor. In another room she could hear light conversation, supposedly parents or maybe a television that had been left one. A few doors caught her eye and she tried to remember which one was Flash's, before she trailed Micah into the kitchen. It was still rife with the scent of spices, making her think the family had just had dinner. Her stomach growled when she realized that she hadn't actually eaten anything at Miyami's house earlier and she was definitely too late for supper at home.

Micah sent her an amused look and then reached into a basket on his way out, tossing her a muffin. She grinned, fumbling with it for a moment, and then followed him out. He nodded to the back, where through the window she could see the back of Flash's head. He was sitting, his feet hanging over the balcony, a forgotten manga on one side and a playbook on the other. Apparently he was off in his own little world, because he didn't even notice his brother push up the window and slip out on the balcony.

For a moment she wondered if she was supposed to follow him, and then noticed that there was a perfectly usable door right next to the window. Staring at Micah with an expression that was a mixture of apprehension and 'what the hell?', she pulled open the door and walked out onto the balcony.

He snorted. "Chicken."

"You overcomplicate life," she replied.

Where he was sitting, Flash's shoulders tensed and she remembered that he wasn't exactly expecting her. He didn't look at her, instead sourly glaring up at Micah. "You're a jerk."

"And you're and even bigger chicken" his twin retorted, "I'm out of here. See you later…well, if Janine doesn't have another "emergency"."

He sounded like he was eagerly awaiting said emergency, and with a glance between her and Flash, quickly climbed back in through the window. Even though Chaya was holding the door open for him.

"Is he always – ?"

"Yeah."

"A-huh."

"Hm."

"Okay, so are we going to exchange sound effects all night or are you going to tell me what the heck's going on?" Chaya demanded, tired of the pseudo-beating-around of the bush.

"Nothing's going on."

"You're hiding something from me."

"A ton."

"You know what I mean."

"You're hiding something from me."

"What makes you say that?"

"You see? You don't like that particular statement either."

Chaya groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose, as though trying to stopper an oncoming headache. There was definitely something up. Flash was being more antagonistic than usual, which was a sign that there was something going on. Usually if he didn't want her to know something, he merely shrugged and looked at her blandly until she got so annoyed she changed the subject. As it was, he was instead giving her a complete run around. It was like it was punishment for something.

"See – if you tell me what's going on, I can try to fix whatever's going on between us. It really doesn't do to completely ignore me for something I have no idea what you're ignoring me for," she pointed out. Flash raised an eyebrow at her without saying anything. "I mean, could you have been any less subtle about it?"

"I tried subtle. You didn't notice."

She rolled her eyes. "Duh, hence the subtlety. And since when have you known me to get things when they aren't spelled out, unless I have one of those Eureka moments? And of course no one's been telling me anything, so – "

"Contrary to popular belief, it's not all about you," Flash told her simply, lying back on the balcony and staring up at the pink-streaked sky. "You're a selfish brat."

Chaya hadn't expected that, but she knew after a moment of mulling it over that he did have a point. "Yeah, I guess so. I'm still working on that. Younger child syndrome, I guess. Or crappy sense of morals. I kind of figured that whole thing out when Max and I…you know." Even over a month later and it was still hard to talk about without getting that creeping, sick feeling in her stomach. She still felt like a complete moron about the entire altercation. "Anyway – so what gives with the avoiding thing? And what's with the slew of new friends, the least you could do is introduce us."

Was it her imagination or was Flash turning red? When he looked at her, his entire countenance seemed strained. "They're jocks, you wouldn't get along with them. And you're not exactly big in their books either."

"Hey, they're the ones who started the stupid nicknames, the polls and there were a few in on the beach plot last year. How do you think Tala and Kai managed try to tip the outhouse out? They had a few of their brainless muttonhead friends come help them – and they weren't no tech-nerds, either!" Chaya snapped, shuddering at the memory of Ray's beach party in her first year. It occurred to her to berate Kai about that the next time she saw him. She'd never properly smacked him for that. "They're all brawn and no brains who follow the closest thing with a brain if there's something in it for them."

Flash snorted. "You do realize you're talking about my friends, right?"

Chaya opened her mouth to say something and then shut it, colouring slightly. "Okay, yeah, there I go shooting my mouth off again. Memo to self – no personal opinions…much anyhow." She smiled apologetically at Flash. "Those guys probably weren't your new buds anyway, right?"

"Right," he agreed cautiously. He moved again into a sitting position, staring into space. "Some of them can be pretty decent guys, you know?"

"I guess," Chaya frowned, trying to picture any of the jocks ever being even the slightest bit nice to her. And then she berated herself for once again focussing on herself, and returned her attention to Flash. Which was when she noticed the faraway look, with the beginnings of a smile on her face.

It hit her.

"Oh my god," she blinked, staring at him as the picture suddenly became a whole lot clearer. Maybe surprised by her voice, he turned to look at her with a slightly uneasy glance. "I get it now, yeah, but…you're not…are you?"

He shrugged tentatively and looked back into the yard below them.

Chaya raised her eyebrows until they were in danger of disappearing into her hair, and then shifted so that she was lying back on her elbows. It was indeed something to process. "Wow."

"Mmhm."

"Really?"

"Hm."

"Wow."

"This is the part where Johnny fell off of the balcony," Flash informed her. "You two seem to have this thing with balconies."

"And you seem to have this thing about complicating matters," Chaya said, exhaling now that she realized what was going on was not as bad as she had originally thought. Her imagination had turned Flash's avoidance into something different, ranging the situations from her possibly having body odour to him thinking she had murdered someone. Truthfully, she couldn't think which of those would be worse. Not that it mattered now that she knew…"Why didn't you tell me? I'm one of the few people around here that would get that!"

Flash turned and sent her a cool look. "The way you got it when it was Max?"

"Was wondering when that would come up," Chaya sighed. She tried to look as serious as she could, without feeling the angry annoyance that usually came when people brought up what had happened with her and Max in a way to throw her off guard. "Maybe if you'd stuck around you would have heard it from the horse's mouth, but Max has forgiven me. More or less. And it's unfair that you should base all of what's going on with us on what happened with my brother and I. He knows I didn't do it on purpose – yanking him out in the open was the very last thing I wanted to do – I would go through hell and back for my brother. And I think I at least visited the first circle, okay?" She schooled her expression into a confident, yet repentant smile. "Were you afraid I'd do the same to you?"

Flash again, shrugged, a habit which was slowly grating on her nerves, but she put up with it. The air of tension seemed to have dropped a little.

"You know I'd never do that."

"Yeah, I figured, kind of," he mumbled flatly. "But I didn't feel like hanging around Hurricane Chaya in case something did happen."

"What was supposed to happen if I didn't know?" Chaya questioned, here stomach growling again, rather loudly. "All I knew was that you didn't want to hang out with any of us. I thought it was because of me and I also thought it was because of Kai. And then there were your new friends to consider."

She moved to take a bite of the muffin and then frowned, looking down at it with something almost approaching contempt. She felt affronted by its very existence suddenly. "What kind of philistine puts carrots in a muffin?"

"Because they're trying to boost its sagging health quota?" Flash suggested, amused. "Most people are glad to hear the word 'carrot' on a muffin because it makes them feel less guilty about eating it. Me, I just like carrots."

"Oh." She made a face.

"And you really want to know why I stopped hanging out with you guys?"

"Yeah."

"You're right, it is Kai – " he noticed the expression on her face, " – but it's not about him being an asshole. He'll always be that. Can't change that. You though…"

She didn't answer, merely waiting for some type of explanation. After a second, he indicated that he had an idea and took the evil carrot muffin from her, holding it up. "Okay. In this chapter of the play, the part of Flash will be played by Chaya, while I will graciously take on your role. The muffin can be Kai."

"How is Kai a muffin? That allusion just gave me a headache."

"Me too, but let's focus here, okay?"

"Uh…okay."

"Alright – action – say something to me."

Chaya blinked, overcome by the absurdity but hesitant about playing along. "Uh…Flash, have you seen the new – " she cut off immediately when she noticed that Flash was gaping at the muffin with an awed expression on his face. She reached for him to swat, but he moved out of reach. "I am not that bad! I don't…do that!"

"You do too."

She frowned. She knew some of it was exaggeration, but also that Flash did have a point. She'd been spending more than a little time with Kai lately. But that wasn't so much intention as the nature of their relationship – karma had dictated early on that wherever she went, she was bound to run into Kai. And when that happened, either fist-fights or dinner plans happened. Recently, anyhow. "Okay, I'll try to be better. Chaya's honour. And I'm really, really sorry about everything. I guess I apologized to everyone but you – but you actually have to be around so I can apologise and stuff!"

Flash fixed her in a calculating look, before nodding. "Okay, fine."

Chaya grinned. "Great!"

She lunged forward and hugged Flash, who let out a squeaky noise like someone choking and shrugged her off. "Choking, not breathing!"

The muffin disappeared from her grasp and she yelped in surprise, staring up at where Micah had appeared from the window again.

"Hey!"

"Where you there the whole time?" Flash demanded.

Micah didn't answer, instead adopting a pensive expression. "As touching as this reunion is, you guys are ruining it with all the sappy sentimentalism. I was hoping for more of a bloodbath." He considered the muffin and then took a huge bite out of it. Still chewing, he winked at Chaya. "I'm siding with you – carrots in muffins are evil."

"Dude…" Flash stared at his brother. "You just…ate Kai…"

* * *

TBC

R&R PLEASE


	41. Friedl Factor

_**Burning in the Sea**_

Author: KuriQuinn

Title: Burning in the Sea

Fandom: Bakuten Shoot Beyblade

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade, never will and have no intention of leading a crusade to try to own them. That's too much money and too much effort. However, I do like to manipulate the characters to do my bidding because it amuses me and countless others. This is the only disclaimer you will see in this fic, so if you decide to review me saying that I didn't give credit to the real person that came up with Beyblade (Aoki Takao) I will calmly tell you to go screw yourself. That is all.

Fanfiction Disclaimer: Chaya is my own creation, as is Haley, Jennifer, Claire and anyone else that you don't recognize. Miyami belongs to Mags, my best friend. Aurelia Delk belongs to Band-Freak aka Lobo-Chan. Flash Jameson and Iris Messana are inspired by my real life friends, Flash and Iz. Just to clarify that…

Rating: R for language, mature themes and mature humor

Pairing: Figure it out.

Takes-Place: Alternate Universe

Summary: When you live in small town, where everything and everyone is the same, what are you supposed to do? Why, wreak whatever hell you can, of course

ARN: Okay, apparently I ticked off a few people about the not caring about spelling and grammar thing. I apologize for that, but really, that's the truth of it. I'm not saying that's how I'm going to write everything, I just meant it as a "don't send me emails talking about how bad my grammar and spelling is" because I really don't care and you're wasting both our time. If you told me that about a fic I actually really cared about, like AWTW or something from my ErtheChilde account, then I'd freak, thank you profusely and go change it. That's all I'm saying.

* * *

**Chapter Forty-One: Friedle Factor**

_Ding-Dong!_

"I'll get it!"

"Chaya, you're sick," her mother's voice reminded her, muffled by the wall of her closet and many shelves of clothes.

"I am no – uh, yeah, but, uh, I'll get it," she answered slowly, punctuating the statement with a few hacking coughs.

She slowed her pace from the frantic race to the bottom of the stairs to a mild-mannered jog, eager to escape the fretting sound of her mother and father arranging their affairs for later that day. Everyone was in a little bit of a stressful environment that day because for the first time in months they were going to be bringing Mercy home from the hospital. The plans had been in the making for weeks now, ever since the nurses had called to inform them that the baby was doing exceedingly well, much better than the doctors had previously estimated she would.

Her parents were getting all the last-minute arrangements under wing to go pick her up. Chaya and Max had wanted to go with them, but because it was a school day their parents had told them it wasn't happening. Which was where Chaya's sudden illness came into play…

She wrenched open the front door of the house, half-expecting it to be yet another family member coming by to offer their support, but was utterly floored to see that it was none other than her introverted significant other standing on the doorstep. "Kai?"

Her first thought was that he looked completely out of place standing framed in her front door, towering over her. Despite the fact that it was May and almost twenty-three degrees outside, he was still sporting his leather jacket and jeans, as well as a rather annoyed looking frown on his face. "Chaya."

"What are you doing here?" she asked, truly unable to come up with an answer. He never came to her house. Ever. Especially not early in the morning. If there was another thing that she and Kai had in common, it was their abhorrence of waking up early in the morning. She went so far as to completely ignore the unwritten law of the hour of preparation that most of her girlfriends swore they needed to get ready, just for the extra sleep time. They had long ago, by unspoken agreement, decided that walking to school together in the morning was more trouble than it was worth. That, and it was a time usually left to mingling with their respective group of friends.

"Making sure that unsuspecting stubborn-ass blonds' are paying attention to where they're going," he replied smoothly, still not answering the question.

"I could have been barrelling out the door and right into you, you know," she folded her arms.

"But you were _unsuspecting_," he clarified, the annoying condescending drawl of his back in place. "That's the whole point."

"And you're an ass," she shot back, moments before her father strolled into the room.

"Who is it, Chaya?" he wanted to know, glancing at Kai with a frown. "And shouldn't you be in bed?"

"In a second, Daddy," she said, colouring slightly at the raised eyebrow that Kai was sending her. When she realized her dad was still waiting, she cleared her throat and pointed between them, "You remember Kai, don't you?"

"We've met twice, I believe," her father said, the warm smile on his face. "I still owe you a great amount of thanks for the second time, I think."

Kai remained neutral, managing a brief, "It was no problem." While Chaya groaned. She still hated being reminded of the botched robbery attempt in the hobby-shop. Though if Kai hadn't been there…

"I didn't think you two were on very good terms, though."

If she had been red before, Chaya had doubled the colour in seconds. Glowering at her father, she pushed him towards the inside of the house. "Okay, Dad, we get it. I'll be inside in a sec, okay?" She didn't wait for the reply before turning back to Kai and smiling sweetly. "What were we saying?"

He smirked. "Sick, huh?"

She shrugged and coughed absently, looking to make sure her father was gone. She grinned back at him when she saw that her dad had turned the corner into the kitchen. "Yeah."

"What've you got?"

"Trig test," she replied, making a face.

"Thought so."

"And Mercy's coming home today and I wanted to see her. I wanted to go with, but they wouldn't let me, so…" she gestured at herself in a rather self-explanatory manner. "You never answered…what are you doing here?"

"Came to get you."

"Oh…well that's nice. But you see, if I went with you, my entire charade would be ruined," she said, pretending to consider it with a rather pointed expression, as though she really was weighing her pros and cons. "And then where would I be?"

Kai sighed in exasperation and ran a hand through his messy hair. "Get dressed, we're going."

"Actually, I'd rather pull my fingernails out with rusty pliers."

He made a face at her, apparently having not expected that. "Do you even know where I was going to take you?"

"No, but it was a moment of high drama and I didn't want to spoil it," she replied. "Besides, the last time you took me anywhere I nearly froze my ass off and had to walk around like a scarecrow all day. Besides, other than school, where would we go?"

"If you get dressed, I'd tell you," he replied simply.

"Nope."

Stalemate. They stared each other down for a moment and then he sighed, reaching into his tarnished school backpack and drawing out a small paper bag. In it she could see the faint outline of a cinnamon bun from the shop down the street; without being able to see it, she's wager that it was the kind without raisins and the faintest sprinkling of chocolate over the icing. She bit her lip at this, noticing the smug look on his face. "That's not fair."

"Life's not fair. Go get dressed or I'll drag you up there and do it for you."

"Oh, you'd love that, wouldn't you," she grumbled sourly, stalking back into the house without waiting to see if he followed her. She cleared her throat, yelling, "Mom! Dad! I'm feeling better after all!"

There was no questioning her, although her father did send her an amused look that told her he had known all along that she was faking. She shrugged. She hadn't truly been trying to seem sick. Usually when she faked sick, her parents were almost ready to drag her to the hospital. When she reached the top of the stairs, she realized she hadn't invited him inside or anything. Glancing back, she was glad to see that he had at least taken the initiative to step inside and was now glancing around looking terribly out of place in her house. It actually made her smile.

"'oo 'as i'?" grumbled her brother, who was still thoroughly meshed in sleep as he tried to get ready for school. His hair stuck up at all angles and he was wearing only his jeans. A toothbrush stuck stubbornly out of his mouth.

"The Glacier Formerly Known As Kai," she replied just as easily as she hurried into her room to grab her things, barely noticing the sudden strained look on her brother's face or how his entire countenance tensed.

She thought it was just the fact that Kai happened to be one of the most conservative, anti-gay vagrants at the school – a habit she was trying to break him of every day they spent together. The task was daunting and more than once she had to remind herself that Rome hadn't been built in a day. On terrible days when their debating led to all out arguments, she wished she could beat Voltaire Oreskovic upside the head for implanting such stiff ideas in his grandson's head. Taryn at least had had enough sense to ignore such things, being the ignored granddaughter and all, but the boys had taken the brunt of the soviet style upbringing.

For a moment she considered herself in the mirror, wondering if she should bother with make-up. She didn't usually, unless it was an overt attempt to annoy Clarkson or if she was just feeling in a particularly girly mood. It took about a second to decide that, no, she was still feeling like a lazy sod and it was bad enough that she had to wake up early this morning, let alone think about prettying herself up. She'd figured out long ago that it wasn't her looks that mattered to most people. Although, she thought ruefully glaring down at her chest which garnered the majority of unwanted attention, sometimes she had to wonder.

She almost forgot to grab her school bag in her haste to run downstairs and in the hurry to make a quick turn to grab it, she nearly tripped over the hem of her jeans and rammed into the doorframe. Cursing so loudly her mother reprimanded her from within her closet, she hopped down the stairs, nearly stepping on Harry in the process. The hairless cat yowled at her, insulted, and swiped a paw at her in warning.

"Sorry about that, gravity seems to have sworn a vendetta against me to – okay, what's going on?" she stopped on the last step in the landing, glancing in confusion between her brother and her boyfriend. Both of them were staring each other down with expressions of utter stone that she almost took a step back. "Did someone die?"

"Not yet," Max said calmly, the cheer in his voice fabricated to such an extent that Chaya had to stare at him for a while to make sure that it was him that had spoken. When he noticed his sister staring at him, his entire demeanour shifted back into the grinning smile. "I'll see you guys at school later then. Ty's meeting me at the corner anyway, so…"

He trailed off and returned upstairs, albeit walking backwards and never taking his eyes off of Kai.

It hit Chaya what was going on a second later as he disappeared. "Aw, crap, he pulled the overprotective brother thing on you, didn't he?"

Kai shrugged, grabbing the door and holding it open for her. She watched him warily for a moment, remembering the last time he had done that a few months ago and then proceeded to try to slam her into it. He seemed to remember this as well, because he suddenly smirked knowingly and she hurried to jump through the doorframe before he could do anything. "Ha-ha, very funny – but seriously, I don't have to warn you he's serious, right?"

"I did see the brawl with Tala, yes," Kai rolled his eyes, digging into his pockets for something. She winced, having almost forgotten that particular incident. It had not been a happy week for her. Clearing her mind, she tried to think of something and then grinned when the perfect thing came to mind.

"Speaking of, tell him thank you for me."

Kai looked confused, pausing in his tracks to look at her. "For what?"

"Oh, he'll know," she replied mysteriously. "Oooh, and make sure you tell him in a public place, okay? I can't wait to see the look on his face." She laughed in an evil glee that had Kai merely shaking his head and mumbling something she didn't hear under his breath – probably better that she didn't anyhow. "So, what's the big deal that you came to get me today, anyway?"

Without answering, he pointed ahead. About to ask what was going on, she stopped talking when she set eyes on the set of wheels in her driveway. The sleek silver of the Z3 beckoned to her, its curves glinting in the morning sunlight. The top was already down and she felt the thrilling rush she always got when she saw a nice car.

"Wow, is she yours?"

"No, some stranger just parked this in your lot and I figured I'd be a good Samaritan and point it out to you," he deadpanned.

"Hey, except for the good Samaritan part, that could be true," she protested as hurried to inspect the car, raking it in. She'd never seen such a nice car –except under a tarp at Ray's house a year before, but that didn't count. "Where'd you get her – when'd you get her? What's the mileage? How fast can you go in this?"

"It took a hell of a time pulling together the money to pay for it," he grumbled, "because I wasn't asking my grandfather for help. It's second hand, but still good." He leaned over her, snaking a wrist around her waist. "You wanna find out how fast it goes?" She opened her mouth to retort to him that the line was completely overused, when she realized that he was holding the keys out to her.

For once in her life, she was speechless.

When he noticed, he shrugged again, the tips of his ears the slightest bit red as he explained, gruff as he could, "I never got you a birthday present, so I figured I owed you."

Something hit her close to home that she had never in her life felt before, but somehow knew what it was. Turning to stare at him with the most sincere look she could muster, she managed a quiet, serious, "I think I love you, you know that?" It was his turn to tense up in surprise, his mouth slightly parted. And then he slowly relaxed when he realized it wasn't her usual joking, casual manner of saying such things to friends. After another second of thinking it over, she blinked and said, "And not just for that car thing, you know? It's for…just knowing me and putting up with me and a whole lot of other junk I'm not going to list because it ruins the moment."

"You already ruined the moment," he told her simply, before leaning in and catching hold of her lips. She didn't have time to really enjoy the kiss before he pulled away, his mouth brushing her ear with teasing humour, "Try not to crash my car, okay, spaz?"

"Just for that, I'll turn it into scrap metal, jackass," she shot back, already pushing him out of the way so that she could get to the driver's seat. "How much time before school starts? I really want to get a good run in."

"We've got about an hour, but I doubt they'll care if we're a few minutes late," Kai grinned as he swung into the passenger seat and made a big show of putting his seatbelt on. Chaya rolled her eyes, adjusting the mirrors and the seats from Kai's length stature to her own average frame. "Where'd you have in mind?"

Without an answer, she grinned, turning the key in the ignition and relishing both in the sound of the engine revving and the look on Kai's face. Cackling, she shifted into reverse and backed out of the driveway.

(-)

"They won't care if we miss a few minutes, eh?" Chaya snapped angrily, glowering at Kai from across the room where he was leaning back in the uncomfortable looking chair. The reception area was deserted, for once even the crow-faced receptionist having taken a brief leave after threatening them with immediate detention if she moved from the spot before either she returned or Clarkson called them into her office.

The two of them had been nabbed by the aforementioned troll of Bethany when they pulled into the student parking lot and tried to slip into the school unnoticed – a clean half-hour after school started. In her hands she had been holding onto attendance sheets and worn a triumphant smirk that they had interpreted with no trouble to be directed at them. She hadn't wasted words on them until they got to the reception area when she barked that they were to sit on opposite sides of the room until she came to get them.

"Your judgement of time sucks," she huffed, slouching and sticking her hands in her pockets. "You got us in trouble."

"You're the one that wanted to drive all the way to the turn-pike and come back," he replied mildly, watching her with the twinkle that suggested he was amused with the entire situation. "Don't blame me for your driving. Jesus Christ, you're more dangerous with a car than you are with a fricken' right hook."

"My driving?" she shot back. "We almost would have gotten pulled over by the cops if I hadn't gotten us out of there. You're the one who suggested we should take the detour down Mueller in the middle of rush hour."

"Never said you had to listen to me."

"Oh, but I _had_ to listen to you when you accused me of making out with Johnny last week," she shot back hotly. That comment brought a small tinge of pink to the otherwise pale cheeks of the other teenager. The week before Tala had insinuated in a rather serious voice to his best friend that Chaya had been seen by more than one person playing tonsil-hockey with the redheaded sophomore. A vicious scream fest and argument later, Chaya managed to convince him to think about the statement for a few seconds and see the complete lack of logic in it. Kai had confronted Tala about it angrily and that had been the end of it.

Chaya had known that Tala would try to make things tense between them, but his attempts were somewhat lacking of late. The only reason Kai had even pursued the matter with her beyond a question was that Tala was his best friend and he could normally trust everything he said to him. Chaya, in the mean time, had decided to grit her teeth and bear it, knowing that trying to come between Kai and the crafty redhead would be stupid and cause more problems she wasn't in the mood to face at the moment.

"I already apologized for that. This doesn't even warrant an apology."

"Then what does? Do I have to write up some kind of laws regarding apologies? That would suit your square-head personality perfectly, I think," she grumbled.

"If you want to waste your time, go ahead," he rejoined. "And I'll go out and hand out warning leaflets to all the smokers out there who are considering j-walking in the near future to be on the look out for a blond lunatic and her shit-box car – because seriously, you're never driving my car again."

"Well fine, the transmission sticks anyhow!"

They glared at one another, the glances heated in an intense dislike that hadn't been present between them for some time. Chaya felt so angry she felt like stalking across the room with one of the chairs and beating his head into the wall. He didn't look like his thoughts were any kinder, she decided a second later. Maybe his were more violent, but he was better at keeping his temper than she was.

After a fool ten minutes of sneering looks and the sound of Clarkson on the phone in her office, yabbering away on the phone which had been going since they were brought there, he finally opened his mouth to say something. Here it comes, Chaya thought with a grumble, the well-placed insult that's going to have me pissed off at him all day – I wish he would just leave it alone, we're already in another row –

"Will you go to prom with me?"

Her thoughts stopped completely for a second.

And then she peered at him, squinting at him as though she wasn't exactly sure who he was. "Repeat that last line?"

"I know you heard it the first time," he shot back sourly. "Answer the question."

"In a minute – I don't think I've ever heard you use the word 'prom' before," she remarked, the anger gone from her system just as long as it had come. "It's not really a word you'd associate with you, or your vocabulary."

"Chaya…" the voice was low and dangerous, and she kept from looking at him, instead picturing the look on his face. It was intensely amusing.

"It's almost as weird as you saying – I don't know, snuffleupagus or something like that," she considered.

"Mizuhara – !"

"Oh, last names now?" she grinned at him, sticking out her tongue. "You know? I think it would be funny to hear you say that. Go on, say it."

She didn't expect him to, and he didn't. Instead he got up slowly and stalked across the room until he was leaning over her, trapping her in her chair and glaring down at her even though he knew it didn't affect her in the slightest. "Are you coming with me or not? Because I can just as easily ask someone else – I hear Claire doesn't have a date yet."

"No surprise there," she made a face, the comment stinging, "And you wouldn't."

"You don't know that."

"Sure I do. If you were going to you wouldn't be after me like you are."

"Maybe I just want an answer. Yes or no."

"Yes or no."

She was having too much fun with this, and he knew it. Really, it was her own fault for turning her anger into dry amusement. She had been having fun with thinking of various ways of beheading him. But what she had said earlier that morning was true. He did know her. As such, he switched tactics, leaning in just close enough to her that she could smell his after shave and gave the tiny half-smile that he always reserved just for her. She felt her resolve melting as he cocked his head to one side, raising an eyebrow. "Chaya…will you come with me?"

She bit her lip, cutting off the words at the bud. Forcing it out and trying to ignore the heat flooding all over her body she replied, "Say snuffleupagus."

"No."

"Come on…you always say yourself that nothing's free in this world," she reasoned, ignoring him as he pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "I want payment."

"The event in question isn't even for two weeks. Why do I have to pay upfront?"

"Because…you're…the guy," she ended lamely, eyes trained on his lips.

"That's not sexist at all," he rolled his eyes, sarcasm dripping from his tone.

"Say it."

"No."

"Kai…"

He was so close to her lips that she could feel the barest brush of skin against her own. Her eyes closed in reaction as he leaned in. For a moment he just hovered there, and then she felt his lips moving – mouthing words. It was only as he finished what he was saying that she understood what he'd done. He'd mouthed the word without sound. Her eyes shot open and she glared. "That's cheating – !"

He didn't let her finish, effortlessly leading her into another of their frequent-make-up-make-outs that she couldn't help but love. She was so lost in the moment that she almost didn't here the repulsed cough to their left. Kai and Chaya both swivelled their eyes towards the nose, mouths still locked together and Clarkson standing in the frame of her office, glaring at them. Chaya definitely understood the term 'kill someone with a look' when she was given one by the old woman. She had it down to an art form – contemptuous, cold, arrogant and so full of anger that she could probably strip the hide off of a cow or flesh from the bones of the two teens who were doing something he utterly disapproved of.

"What's going on out here?" she seethed, nostrils flaring.

Kai pulled away, looking calm and collect about the entire situation, while Chaya knew she must look like a tomato with blond hair. He casually smoothed out his jacket and sent Clarkson a look as though to say she was both interrupting and wasting his time. Even the one, snap-filled word," Negotiations" was fired at her with such disdain and the woman might as well closed the door right then and done them both a favour.

Not to be outdone, her head still reeling, she grinned at the mottled face of the Vice Principal. "We're going to prom together."

Kai had known that she was going to say yes, she knew that much. Still, when she said that, he had affectionately reached over and messed up her hair, tugging on it playfully. She swore and swatted him, ignoring their principal who let out a breath like a winded bull might and snarked, "Not if I have something to say about it. Both of you, in."

She grabbed onto Kai's shoulder to steady herself and let him lead her into the familiar office, making sure to viciously punch him in the stomach when he whispered in her ear, "That's alright, there's always the parking lot."

* * *

TBC 


	42. Panic Swagger

_**Burning in the Sea**_

Author: KuriQuinn

Title: Burning in the Sea

Fandom: Bakuten Shoot Beyblade

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade, never will and have no intention of leading a crusade to try to own them. That's too much money and too much effort. However, I do like to manipulate the characters to do my bidding because it amuses me and countless others. This is the only disclaimer you will see in this fic, so if you decide to review me saying that I didn't give credit to the real person that came up with Beyblade (Aoki Takao) I will calmly tell you to go screw yourself. That is all.

Fanfiction Disclaimer: Chaya is my own creation, as is Haley, Jennifer, Claire and anyone else that you don't recognize. Miyami belongs to Mags, my best friend. Aurelia Delk belongs to Band-Freak aka Lobo-Chan. Flash Jameson and Iris Messana are inspired by my real life friends, Flash and Iz. Just to clarify that…

Rating: R for language, mature themes and mature humor

Pairing: Figure it out.

Takes-Place: Alternate Universe

Summary: When you live in small town, where everything and everyone is the same, what are you supposed to do? Why, wreak whatever hell you can, of course

ARN: Yay! Updating spree of doom!

* * *

**Chapter Forty-Two: Panic Swagger **

Chaya stared at herself in the mirror and wondered whether she should laugh hysterically or begin to cry out of sheer frustration. The deep green cocktail dress with the v-neck, which had looked so perfect on the mannequin when they walked into the shop looked horrendous on her, turning her curves into wide, elephant like bunches of material stretched over her body. What was worse, she thought with an angry glower heavenward as though the fashion gods had decided to pick on her, this was the largest size the store had.

Any bigger and I might as well wear a circus tent, she thought with a grumble as she tore off the dress and pulled on her jeans and Nickelback band-top with angry fury. Without bothering to return the dress to its hangar, she stalked out of the dressing room and across the store, barely pausing to poke Miyami in the shoulder. "Get the others, let's go."

"You didn't show us the dress," Miyami commented in confusion. "Was it nice?"

"Ugly as sin. This place discriminates against fat people."

"Chays, you're not fat," her best friend protested as she waved for the others. Flash, Max and Iris were pretending to browse through the numerous puffy prom dresses. They all looked rather relieved to hear that they were leaving. "You know that, don't you?"

"In a world where the best-selling size is zero, a normal fourteen like me is fat," Chaya replied cynically. "There's no arguing it, so let's go shop where normal people shop and not some greedy store selling pieces of cloth that can't even be worn as one sleeve – cloth, which I might add, that cost twenty-three cents to put together and which they're selling for fifty dollars."

"Hoo, great, she's in one of her complaining environmental moods," Iris rolled her eyes. "And I missed out on a nice family get-together for this. If you're going to do this, why don't you get your stupid boyfriend to shop with you? He could probably tell you what would look nice and appeal to your sense of injustice versus the fashion world."

"Yeah, weren't you guys supposed to be having a date today?" Max asked his sister as they peered into one of the novelty shops in the mall, noting the various curios before wandering into another wing of the building. "What happened?"

"Same thing that always happens," Chaya groused, glaring at a toothpick thin mannequin and wondering whether she should go complain to the manager about false advertising concerning body ratios. "He was an idiot."

"What'd he do this time?" Flash deadpanned, looking up from his side conversation with Iris long enough to fix her with an unimpressed stare.

"It's what he didn't do," Chaya replied evenly, glancing towards the cafeteria. "You guys hungry? I might as well eat – it's not like I've got much a chance with the skimpy fashions anyhow. Might as well have a full stomach."

"Yeah, I'm starved," Max agreed. "What didn't he do?"

"He didn't tell me that I walked out of the ladies room with the back of my skirt tucked into my boxers," Chaya replied. "I walked around town the entirety of yesterday evening with him and he didn't say anything."

There was a moment of silence, and then her friends burst out into loud, raucous laughter. Even Iris, who never turned into a laughing fool when in the midst of hysterics, looked as though she was losing oxygen. After a spell, Chaya herself cracked a smile. Max noticed and poked her accusingly. "You think it's funny too – so why are you mad at him?"

"Because it was the principle of the thing," Chaya groaned. "If he can't tell me about something huge like that, what about if it's something small but equally embarrassing – like if I had spinach in my teeth. He wouldn't tell me. There's absolutely no trust."

"So…let me get this straight," Flash put in conversationally. "You're punishing him by…not letting him go shopping with you?" He made a face. "Isn't that kind of counter productive, considering most guys hate shopping? I mean, I hate know I do – I'm here because I'm bored out of my skull."

Chaya wanted to retort that he was also there because his jock buddy and current crush Kyle Fairbairne had mentioned that he might be at the mall that day, but held back. Although her friends knew all about Flash, she felt guilty even thinking about saying something like that out loud. Until he said it was okay for her, she would shut up completely about it. Instead, she stuck out her tongue at him and then answered, "I'd promised him that if he helped me pick out the dress, then later I'd try on lingerie and he could see."

Her brother snorted. "Getting a bit ahead of ourselves, are we?"

"Shut up," Chaya groaned, her cheeks turning pink. "I never had any intention of doing it, I was totally bullshitting. But he didn't know that – you should know better than anyone that to get a guy to do what you want that you have to lure them with something they want."

"Luckily Tyson's not the lingerie type though," Max reminded her. "To hear about you doing it…is just utterly girly of you." There was a peculiar frown on his face and then he reached over, pinching at her cheeks as he cooed. "I'm so proud of you – but does that mean we should have "the talk" now? Or later? Although, you know, if it's later, Mom gets to hear all of it –"

"MAX!"

She spent more of the next ten minutes trying to swat at her brother than find something to eat. As she and her brother chased each other through the crowed food court of the mall, she supposed the others grabbed something to eat at their own pace. When she finally managed to catch him and wrestle him into a headlock, she let go of him and wandered off to find food. It occurred to her to get something light, considering trying on fancy dresses after eating a full lunch wasn't the best option, but the deli beckoned to her. Before she knew it, she had loaded up on fries and a club sandwich and was merrily humming as she headed to the table in the middle where her friends were seated.

"This place sucks," Chaya grumbled, realizing that they were trapped in the middle of the most crowded area of the terrace as she put down her plate. "If we were attacked by terrorists the way the news is always going on about, we'd all be screwed. I mean, one explosion in the wrong place could mean utter catastrophe."

"What are you talking about?" Miyami snorted. "We picked this one out especially for you, Oh Hater of Shopping Malls. Good lines of sight, close to the exit and right under the pretty glass window in case something does happen – we can boost you and then you can get us out. Foolproof."

"And if not, we'll at least have a lot of greasy food and corpses to keep us alive until the rescuers show up."

Everyone made a face and looked at Flash oddly. When he noticed he made a defensive gesture. "To keep us warm, morons."

"Uh huh."

"Hey, I'm not the cannibal here, last time I checked, that was Chaya," he pointed out. When everyone looked even more confused, he clarified, "Sandwich homicide? Am I the only one that remembers this?"

Chaya snorted. "Yeah, but you weren't around, I didn't think –"

"Lurking and lingering," Flash interrupted. "My specialty. Why do you think I'm called 'flash'?"

"Well there was the whole –!"

"Shut up, Iris."

"Make me."

He shoved a bottle of something at her. "Gladly. Drink."

"Ew, what is that?" the brunette ducked out of the way, considering the offending bottle the way Socrates might have considered the hemlock offered to him.

"Peach and white cranberry."

Considering it a moment, she accepted the bottle and raised it to her mouth, trying to drink. Still observing her with a raised eyebrow and almost amused exasperation, he commented, "It won't kill you to try it."

"Shut up." She tilted her head back to drink.

"So?" Flash prodded after a couple of seconds.

"I don't know, I ran out of air," Iris exhaled loudly, lowering the bottle as her friends groaned.

"You're so picky," Chaya rolled her eyes as she started on her sandwich. For a few moments she listened to Flash and Iris argue about eating habits, chewing at the sandwich and fries thoughtfully, before she was pulled out of her reverie by the conversation that Max was having with Miyami. "What's this about Haley and Jenn?"

"They're back together after about a year of not speaking to one another," Max explained. "No one knows what set the fight off to begin with, but whatever it is doesn't matter any more because they're as thick as thieves again."

"Thank god," Chaya whistled, leaning back. When she received a few strange looks from her friends, she shrugged and clarified, "Haley has this habit of ogling at me or whenever we talk she always has to touch me. Like on the shoulder or back or stuff. It stopped a bit since I started dating Kai, but it's still there."

"Hm…imagine if she had gotten to you before you dragged off Kai," Flash suggested. "I don't think we'd be able to stand so much loud ego in one room."

"Shut up," she reached over to slug him. "She's so not my type. I'm partial to girls with a smaller bust size than my own. Like Hayden Panettiere. Now _that_ is someone I wouldn't mind corrupting."

"Dude, she's a year younger than you and straight, and not to mention, famous," Miyami pointed out. "You stand no chance. Just think of the human Alps you'd have to run down just to get a look at her. Can't you go for someone, I don't know, in this area code?"

"Can't blame me for having high standards," Chaya made a face. "If I ever really, truly break up with Kai I'd definitely give it a shot."

Max rolled his eyes. "I still don't get what's wrong with Haley. She's nice and has your fucked up sense of humor."

"She's creepy – you know, one of those creepy lesbians? The ones who go to the very limits of sanity to proclaim that their lesbians and then impose it on everyone else to accept them, as brutally as possible. Nah, she's a creepy lesbian and if I were with her, people would think we were both creepy. And, I'd feel creepy," she thought out loud. "See, if it was Miyami or something, she'd be a cute lesbian. Ergo, I'd feel cute. Get it?"

"I can't believe you just used the word 'ergo'," Iris snorted. "Turner much?"

"Shut it –!"

"Are you calling me a cute lesbian?" Miyami demanded.

Chaya blinked, and then gave her a deadpan stare. "I'm just saying that if I were a lesbian, then yes, you'd be –"

"I'm a cute lesbian!" Miyami cheered.

Half of the food court went silent, staring over at the table in the middle where the two guys were trying to forcefully be swallowed into their seats, while Chaya just laughed out loud. Iris looked as though she was caught between wanting to smack the girl or laugh right along with Chaya. Max finally bit out, trying to overcome his cherry-red face, "Could you say that any louder?"

"Maxie, I have this theory that if Miyami cared what people thought she would have taken out her piercings and dyed her hair a normal color a long time ago," Chaya grinned, putting down the crust of her sandwich and leaning back, finally full. A second later, she noticed her best friend was watching her with an odd expression on her face. Every now and then she frowned, or wrinkled her nose as though displeased with something. Cocking her head to one side, Chaya leaned over. "What are you doing?"

"Making an independent movie in my head," the other girl replied, her eyes not meeting Chaya's as she stared down at the table.

"…uh huh."

"About the crust."

Silence.

"About how it was part of the most amazing sandwich ever made and how it was just cast off, lonely, never to be eaten – " Chaya glared and picked up the discarded piece of bread, stuffing it into her mouth. Her best friend beamed at her. "There we go."

"You're weird," Chaya accused through a full mouth.

"Me? Weird?" Miyami repeated. "But I'm the cute lesbian. There's nothing wrong with me."

"Besides the fact that you're a nutcase," Iris put in.

"Or that you just forced Chaya to commit another sandwich homicide," Flash put in. "That's aiding and abetting."

(-)

"So how exactly are you getting past the whole Clarkson banning you and Kai from the prom thing?" Iris yawned, clearly tiring of the shopping trip as fast as Chaya was. "I've been meaning to ask."

"Still working on that…or we were, till I got mad at him."

"Meaning after you guys get your kissy-face crap out of your system you'll get into plotting mode?" Iris suggested flatly. Her entire tone breathed sardonic glee. "I can't wait. While you're at it, sneak us in too."

"Uh huh…"

"Preoccupied much."

"Mhmh."

She felt Iris's unimpressed glare at her back. "I'm sleeping with your boyfriend."

"Just make sure you use protection."

After five more stores, Chaya was about ready to quit shopping and was entertaining the thought of just walking into the prom naked to see what kind of a reaction it would get. The rest of their luncheon had lapsed into a series of plea bargains and debates about the nature of murder when it concerned inanimate objects and ended with Iris surreptitiously declaring that all parties were pardoned from the crime if they promised never to bring it up again.

Of course that hadn't meant that the end of the shopping or the insanity had given way. Almost immediately after lunch, Flash somehow ended up with a vanilla sundae which never ended well. He had challenged an old lady with a walker to a race down the escalators before the rest of the group had managed to pull him away.

"The funny thing is I think that she would have," Max remarked as they hauled the hyperactive thespian down the hall.

"If she's anything like Gamma Yoshi, she would have," Chaya answered, trying to sound amused despite her exasperation with the clothing in the mall. It would be two shops and the beginning of a game of truth or dare later that she found what she was looking for. Found was a strong word – visually attacked was a better one.

"…truth."

"What did you want to be when you were little?" Miyami asked Iris.

"Well that's a boring question."

"You're a boring person. Who picks truth this far into the game?"

"Shut up."

"Answer the question."

"A police." There were a few answering snorts, including Chaya, which had Iris glowering at them. "There was a very practical reason for that, I'll have you know!"

Flash sniggered. "Like what? You're love of police brutality?"

"No – so I could arrest my dumb-ass brother who wanted to be a thief."

There was a loud gasp that bordered on a spastic shudder, and immediately Miyami, Max, Iris and Flash were staring at Chaya with a mixture of curiosity and worry. Her expression was one of wide-eyed personal glee. When they all tried to see what she was looking at, she barreled through them and hurried into a small shop they almost hadn't seen. It sported renaissance and medieval style clothing, as well as trinkets that rivaled anything that might be found in the world of Tolkien. Even the music streaming from inside had an intensely dark, dreary and Celtic theme to it.

"Ten bucks it has a corset," Miyami sighed with a smile, getting ready to follow her best friend into the shop.

Max scoffed, "Ten bucks it has a sword…"

* * *

**TBC**


	43. Caterpillar Beatnik

_**Burning in the Sea**_

Author: KuriQuinn

Title: Burning in the Sea

Fandom: Bakuten Shoot Beyblade

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade, never will and have no intention of leading a crusade to try to own them. That's too much money and too much effort. However, I do like to manipulate the characters to do my bidding because it amuses me and countless others. This is the only disclaimer you will see in this fic, so if you decide to review me saying that I didn't give credit to the real person that came up with Beyblade (Aoki Takao) I will calmly tell you to go screw yourself. That is all.

Fanfiction Disclaimer: Chaya is my own creation, as is Haley, Jennifer, Claire and anyone else that you don't recognize. Miyami belongs to Mags, my best friend. Aurelia Delk belongs to Band-Freak aka Lobo-Chan. Flash Jameson and Iris Messana are inspired by my real life friends, Flash and Iz. Just to clarify that…

Rating: R for language, mature themes and mature humor

Pairing: Figure it out.

Takes-Place: Alternate Universe

Summary: When you live in small town, where everything and everyone is the same, what are you supposed to do? Why, wreak whatever hell you can, of course

* * *

**Chapter Forty-Three: Caterpillar Beatnik **

"So my mom's going to kill me. It's official," Chaya said conversationally as she frowned down at the skeleton outline of her economics essay. She'd confused GDP with GNP in one instance and thoroughly screwed up the entire paragraph's meaning because of that. "Not only am still technically grounded, banned from attending prom by Clarkson and on house-cleaning probation until I'm thirty, but I just spent two-hundred and fifty dollars on a dress that I'm not even supposed to have."

Taryn glanced up, half-bored and half-amused. "That's something. You never go shopping. I feel like I should be proud of you or something." Taking in the stricken look on the blond's face, she rolled her eyes heavenward and reached for the chip bag across the table. "I'm sure that she'll understand when you tell her how you feel about it."

The living room of the Hiwatari's mansion was laden with school books and snack foods where the three teens sprawled with their homework. As Chaya wrestled with the semantics of her final paper for economics, Taryn was hunched over her math review stenciles with a frown of complete and utter hatred towards the numbers on her face. Behind the two of them on the couch, Kai lay fast asleep. A history textbook lay across his chest with careless abandon, the same page that he had opened it to hours ago still held in one hand, the other hand thrown across his eyes to block out the light.

Chaya made a face. "That's not the way it works in my house."

"How does it work?"

"She yells, I say sorry, there's a sentencing of some type and then I plea bargain with my dad until the sentence gets reduced to something I can handle," she sighed. "For some reason I doubt this will be one of those times where plea bargaining gets me anywhere."

"Hunh," Taryn shrugged cocking her head to one side. "In our house, it's more like I yell, my grandfather yells, priceless antiques get thrown about, we both keep yelling and eventually someone gets tired."

"Really?" Chaya was surprised at this, trying to visualize it.

"Yeah, I've seen them at it," Kai drawled. It seemed he'd finally awoken from the snooze he had fallen into at the beginning to the homework session. "Not pretty. I count two Ming vases that became shards of nothingness within the past year."

Taryn snorted. "Yeah, like you're any better? What about that Degas that you ruined?"

"I ruined nothing. The old man tossed his vodka at me and I ducked. It's not my fault I have good reflexes."

"Oh go back to sleep."

Throughout all this, Chaya couldn't help but keep the amazed look off of her face. The laid-back way the two others talked about priceless antiques and casual violence was a very odd experience. Her family wasn't perfect – their screaming fights could wake the neighbors', but no one had ever thrown a glass at her in a fit of rage or threatened to. And as for having any riches to ruin – her family wasn't poor in the strictest sense, but if something with worth ever got ruined in the house, there would be a lot of trouble for whoever was responsible. Her mother had a mirror her parents had given her that although not priceless piece of art was special all the same. Chaya had heard many times how if she or Max ever broke it they might as well leave the house as well.

"Nah, conversation got interesting again," Kai was saying, leaning up and stretching. Chaya couldn't help shifting so that she could appreciate the way he worked out the kinks in his back, which happened to be toned amazingly. While Chaya might not have been Hollywood's poster child for ideal, Kai might very well have been. She'd known this when she first set eyes on him two years ago, although she was never going to admit that out loud.

He moved so that he was lying on his front and staring at her, his chin propped up on his arms. "What's this about the possibility of you not coming with me, spaz?"

"I already told you it would be conditional," Chaya informed him in a deadpan voice. "You know as well as everyone else that I'm grounded."

"Then get ungrounded."

"Not everyone can just wave their hands and make their problem's go away," she told him pointedly, putting down her essay and trying to look sternly at him. "I don't have the luxury of that power. At least not at the moment."

He shrugged and rolled back around, yawning and staring up at the sky. "Then I'll talk to your parents."

A momentary pause. "What?"

He inclined his head towards her, bored. "You heard. If they hear it coming from someone else, they might relent. I'll even promise them that you'll have a babysitter and everything to make sure you don't do something stupid. Again."

"Babysitter?" Chaya echoed, the word foreign to her tongue. It had been so long since she'd had that word used in collusion with her that it was weird. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the slate-haired teen before her. "What's that supposed to mean?"

He smirked at her, eyes darkening. "Technically I'm two years older than you. That's enough to wield seniority over you, isn't it, 'kid'?"

She moved to swat him, but he caught her wrists and hauled her over to him, almost making her fall over backwards. "What is your obsession with stupid nicknames for me?"

She could feel the shrug through his hands. "Mm…terms of endearment?"

"What's wrong with 'honey' or 'sweetie' or 'babe' or something normal?"

"Too boring," he explained. "Besides, I can see you smacking me upside the head for less…"

She opened her mouth, and the considered it, realizing that he did have a point. "So with that logic, what am I supposed to call you?"

"Supreme Master?" he suggested.

He said it with such a straight face and flat tone that she had to work hard to keep her own smile back. Instead she choked out a rough, "How about Big Headed Moron?"

He growled and swooped forward, attacking her neck lightly. He never left marks on her skin after a rather interesting incident a few weeks earlier when he'd left a rather prominent love-bite and her parents had noticed. She'd had to endure her mother's sex-talk and father's admonitions the entire night after that, and the next morning Kai had been practically strangled with the school fire hose.

Not that she minded there were no marks, of course, considering this particular brand of affection was greatly welcomed. Kai never really had anything to do with the traditional seduction and flirting, anything that might soften his feelings. Which was good, because sensitivity was all well and good, but too much made her uncomfortable. This was a lesson she had learned from Ray. Still, when he was intentionally being gentle with her, she couldn't help the thrill that ran up her spine.

"Ugh, that's it," Taryn through down her pencil and calculator and glared over at Chaya. "Chays, you are my closest friend, but I'm sick and tired of you. Please, get out and don't ever come back."

Chaya blinked, and then tried to hold back a smile. In a mock-tragic voice she whined, "Don't you love me anymore?"

The goth snorted, the smirking smile that so likened her to Kai on her face. "You're my best girlfriend, of course I love you." Her gaze shifted to Kai and her voice lost some of its humor. "And you're my brother, so I'm forced to love you. But the cute-couple stuff was only amusing while there were still insults going on. So scoot. These sheets are two weeks overdue and your lovey-dovie shit is making my single-tude ever the more apparent."

Kai immediately looked ready to leave, already getting off of the sofa and trying to pull Chaya up with him. "Come on, I can kick your butt at Counterstrike."

Chaya, on the other hand, looked doubtful. "Are you sure, Tar? Because we can always just dump his ass out on the curb and keep working – I came here to see you, not Kai…hazards of you guys being related, I guess." She tried to laugh it off.

"No, you stuck around with me for enough time to ease your guilt, so skat," Taryn replied, making a shooing movement with her hands and turning back to math. "It says something when I'd rather do algebra than hang out with the kissing-couple."

Chaya fully intended to keep wheedling, but before she could get another word out of her mouth, Kai clamped and hand over it and began to haul her up the stairs. Normally she would have started yelling at him for treating her like an object, but his grandfather happened to be home that week and cloistered in his cave with a client. She didn't want to have to deal with him today.

She hadn't actually spoken to him since meeting up with him and his grandsons at Becky's wedding, but whenever she had seen him he made a point of avoiding her like the plague – blatantly, ostentatiously and with a way of making her understand that he did not like her and severely hated the fact that she was dating his grandson. In fact, she doubted he would readily admit to that fact if under oath in a court. Personally, she was just waiting for him to say something to her…anything to set her off. Because she would speak her mind. She knew that. Kai knew that. Probably the old man himself knew it and was keeping away from her for that exact reason. Either way, she was in too good a mood for that to take place today and so she let Kai drag her upstairs to his room and close the door.

Now that she was here more often, she was able to admire Kai's room better. On her first visit she had been 'misguided' by Taryn into Kai's room instead of the bathroom and she had first glanced the humongous "chamber" as she liked to call it that was his room.

It was bigger than Taryn's, with a regular double bed and walls that weren't plastered with posters (and these were only scraps) painted a dark, marsh green, along with the ceiling in an effort to make the room smaller and more comfortable, she thought. The furnishings were still as simple as ever, with the exception of the weight set in one corner, the desk computer near the window and the newly added television cabinet which held his game consoles (Which he had bout recently around the same time she mentioned she liked video games). Shelves and countertops that held small model cars, ranging from Asian to European makes and everything in between, were built across the expanse of the room. The posters depicted various bands, mostly heavy metal and alternative rock, with the occasional emo-punk newspaper article stuck half-hazardly to the walls.

It was the posters, depicting her favorite band, Nickelback, which had first amused her so much about Kai's room.

He strode over to the console set and then paused, considering her. "You want to play a game or just watch TV?"

"Meh, I'm lazy," she told him. "I'd probably let you win, which my future ego won't be able to take. Raincheck?"

He snorted, grabbing hold of the remote control and going to sit on his bed. "Maybe I should _make_ you play, wench."

"Like you could make me do anything," she shot back, stalking over, pushing him backwards onto the bed and grabbing the remote control from his hand. "Mine."

"You said that even when we were at your place."

"The remote is always mine. Location is irrelevant."

"Apparently."

She stuck out her tongue and settled in next to him, curling into his side and turning on the television. It had taken her about three visits to completely figure out the remote control and it's many buttons, but she had been triumphant in the end. Kai wrapped his arm around her and they both fell silent for a few minutes, watching what looked like a rerun of _House_.

Every so often she felt rather than heard a snort of amusement from Kai when there was a particularly derogatory or snarky remark from the television character before them. She smiled most of these times, but remained quiet, rather enjoying the complete nothingness of the lazy afternoon. She vaguely registered the changing of programs, but not so much as to complain about them.

She was almost half-asleep when she was unceremoniously poked in the forehead. Growling up at the intense gaze of the crimson-eyed teen, she tried to muster up the strongest glare she had despite groggy, haze filled eyes. "I was sleeping."

"You were snoring," he replied just as easily, eyes filled with the barest traces of mirth.

She was suddenly completely awake, her ears turning pink. "I was not!"

"Yes you were. Like a truck driver."

Now the blush cross across the rest of her face. Yes, Chaya knew for a fact that she did snore. It was one of those unromantic attributes that she supposed everyone had to have somewhere. Of course considering she couldn't exactly change that about her and never noticed it she had never really paid any attention to it. But now that someone was pointing it out – someone that happened to be both the person she cared most about and the person who would definitely never live it down – she was acutely aware of it. "You're imagining things."

"Oh, like I imagined you drooling on my shoulder?" he shot back, raising an inquiring eyebrow. When she opened her mouth to argue, he pointed to a telltale wet patch on his left shoulder and she instantly quieted herself.

He was looking self-satisfied again and she wanted to hit him. After a moment to recover her usual swagger she snapped, "Yeah, well, it doesn't prove that I was snoring. Unless you have a tape recorder, you've only got one out of two."

"I seem to recall you saying something about this once," Kai continued , as though he hadn't heard her, leaning back on his elbows and frowning thoughtfully. His eyebrows were creased with effort to recall something from the far recesses of his brain and before she could say anything mocking about it, his expression morphed into one of gleeful triumph. "Ah, yes, I remember – wasn't it you that said that the day you drooled on my shoulder was the same day you'd propose marriage?"

"And if I recall that day you tried to feel me up and tossed me in the lake," she replied sourly.

"So? I went in right after you. We're not even. You have to propose."

"I do not!"

"You said you would," he shrugged, leaning back. "Unless you have no honor. But we already knew that."

"You can't be serious."

"How many jokes have I ever made?"

She considered this. It was true, she could count on two hands how many actual jokes the serious and sardonic teen had ever made, not including the insulting jeers directed at her. But she also knew that he was only pursuing this for his own selfish amusement and was going to milk it for all it was worth.

"Point. But I'm not going to do it."

"See? Told you. No honor."

"I'm not giving into this peer pressure crap," she folded her arms and getting ready to swing off of the bed, she was stopped when an arm slung around her waist and pulled her back. "Let go, Kai! Stop being such a brat."

"You're the brat," he replied, stubbornly holding her around the middle. "And Jesus, it was just a joke. What are you, chicken?"

Incensed, she stuck out her tongue at him, deciding that it was just better to put an end to the squabble when he was in one of these moods. "Kai, will you marry me?"

He snorted, "What, I don't even get a half-decent on-bended-knee proposal? This is the twenty-first century after all."

"And you're pushing the joke too far, oh retarded-one."

"Maybe you just lack the talent to play act."

Fuming, she grabbed hold of one of the giant pillows from the end of the bed and thwacked him in the head with it, earning a curse as he fell back onto the mattress. "No talent, huh?" she demanded, clambering over him with a grim smile and attacking him once again with the cushion. "Who's a no-talent?"

"You."

She hit him again, relishing in the string of swearing he unleashed as he tried, in a rather girly, sissy manner to slap the pillow out of her hands. "Wrong answer. Give up?"

"You first."

"Death before surrender," she cried, almost maniacally. She swept the pillow over her head and bore down on him with as much strength as she could muster, but he moved just as suddenly and grabbed her wrists, putting pressure on them. Surprised at the sudden pain, she loosened her grip on the cushion and it tumbled down between them.

He wrestled her back until it was her on her back, trying desperately to escape his clutches, her head hanging over the bed so that she felt all of the blood rushing upwards, making her dizzy and breathless.

Choosing to breathe rather than to fight any longer, she relaxed her wrists in his grasp and panted for breath, utterly aware of the pulse of her blood in her ears. It was going way to fast for her liking. "Okay, Hiwatari, letting me up would be nice…oxygen's becoming an issue."

The pressure on her wrists and chest eased up, but instead of letting go, he pulled her upwards instead, almost knocking heads when she was finally upright. Stars swiveled in her eyes and vertigo made her head pound, but she determinedly ignored them to stare at Kai. She half-expected him to smirk in the usual self-satisfied way declare stalemate or that he'd won or something equally wrath-inciting.

Instead, he released on wrist to smooth back her hair which was utterly-disorderly after their quick pillow tussle. He smirked at her and for once she was unable to read the look in his eyes. "You're all red."

"Blood rushed to my head."

"You look like a tomato."

"A very cute tomato though, right?"

"I think I love you."

"This I know."

"Good."

For a long minute they stared at one another, inches apart but she could feel the heat radiating from everywhere. And then, slowly and hesitantly, he leaned forward to kiss her. This in itself surprised her, as Kai never hesitated, especially not when it came to kissing her. Even when they had hated each other – or more recently when she had fancied herself in hate with him – had he ever hesitated when it came to displaying any form of affection or venting of frustrated tension. But this time it was as though he was asking her permission, as though he actually cared – and that was what really made her respond.

She grabbed a fistful of his shirt, a movement that was desperate and unlike her. She wasn't exactly sure when the gentle, testing demeanor shifted and became more urgent; not necessarily rough, but more frantic and intimate. Somewhere between his t-shirt going missing and her hair band snapping to loose her hair, she supposed. Or maybe when he stopped his perusal of her mouth and began to focus on her jaw line down to her collar bone in ministrations that were sending a mixture of goosebumps and heated shakes from her head to her toes.

It was when his hands started to inch their way up her shirt, ghosting over her waist and caressing the small of her back, that she went rigid, alarm bells going off inside her head that this – whatever this was – was going too far. At the precise moment that she froze, she felt him tense as well. His face, still nestled in her neck, frowned against her skin. Both of them were breathing hard, and if she tried she was sure she might hear his heartbeat. "Tell me when to stop."

She had to work hard to fight down the lump in her throat, finally managing to croak, "Stop."

He brushed his lips against her collar bone again and then pushed himself away from her. For a few seconds she lay on her back, trying to regain her breath. When she looked up, she saw him hunched over, his shoulders heaving.

"Kai…"

He slowly turned, a tight smile stretched across his face. For a second she thought he was mad at her, but before her own defensive nature could pounce upon that, he appeared to recognize her expression, because he relaxed and grinned. "At least one of us has some willpower, huh?"

She bit her lip and hesitantly returned the smile. "I guess…"

"So…" he got off of the bed and went rummaging around his desk. "Didn't we come up here for a game of Counterstike?"

Blinking, it took her a few seconds to reorient herself. Somehow, the previous afternoon's conversation seemed a million miles away. When she finally realized what he was talking about, he already had the game out and was setting up the controllers. Pretending she was looking for her hair tie, she mumbled a distracted answer, tossing his shirt to him with a frantic attempt to return to normal.

"I'm first player," he told her simply as he handed her the controller. Half-heartedly and with a babbling tongue, she was quick to argue with him.

The rest of the afternoon passed in a nervous chatter, mostly hers, punctuated only by a few curses when either party's game character was taken out.

* * *

TBC 


End file.
